Those who were able to be invited by the Empress Dowager to the back palace to participate in the banquet were naturally all ladies from famous and noble families. These noble ladies were used to being graceful and elegant in front of others. Even if they fought in their own residences, they would still masterfully put on an act to show affection. They truly have never seen a spectacle like Su Wan having a catfight like a shrew before.
At this time, Chen Qing Jin was also trembling all over becaue of Su Wan. Although she was usually rational and cool, being slandered like this under everyone’s gaze made the temper deep in her heart rush out.
“Su Wan, if you keep making irresponsible remarks, don’t blame me for being rude to you!”
Chen Qing Jin pressed down her temper and resolutely stared at Su Wan. Seeing Chen Qing Jin get angry, Su Wan laughed in contempt: “Why? Are you flying into rage from shame because your mask was exposed by me in public? Chen Qig Jin, look at yourself, it is Chinese New Year and everyone is wearing a beaming smile, but you look as if your mother has died. Aiya, I beg your pardon, I nearly forgot that your mother has long passed!”
Seeing that Su Wan not only did not know to exercise restraints, but also deliberately brought up her mother who died young, Chen Qing Jin could not keep the temper buried deep in her heart in control anymore. She suddenly raised her arm and brandished it to slap Su Wan’s face —
“You do not have the qualifications to speak of my mother! You are not worthy!”
“Pa (slap)!”
Chen Qing Jin’s hand was knocked down by Su Wan, who was long prepared: “I am not worthy?”
Su Wan narrowed her eyes, her gaze coldly looking at Chen Qing Jin before her: “Whether I am worthy or not to bring up Chen Furen, Chen Furen has the final say! And whether I match up to Chen Yu Shu or not, it is also Chen Yu Shu who has the final say! Chen Qing Jin, who do you think you are? As a daughter, did you go to offer sacrifices to your own deceased mother? As a younger sister, you intentionally planned to break apart your blood-related brother’s marriage. Have you ever thought of your brother’s feelings? A person like you, actually still say that I – Su Wan – am not worthy every time you speak!”
Chen Qing Jin froze at Su Wan’s words. The people in the crowd also couldn not help but to keep silent. They had never seen such an overearing Su Wan.
In the past when Su Wan wanted to express goodwill towards Chen Yu Shu, she would go to Chen Furen’s grave every year to pay her respects. At that time, she was considered as a “love-struck fool” and was the joke of the Capital.
Now, listening to Su Wan speak of this, those noble ladies from prestigious houses all couldn’t help but to go silent…….
In the silence, Chen Qing Jin’s face got even more ugly. Before she was reborn, she was deceived by Yu-shi’s hypocrisy and had always treated her as her own mother, and after she was reborn, she constantly thought of revenge against those people who were unfair to her in her past life. Chen Qing Jin simply did not have the time and the mind to pay her respects to her mother who died young.
Hatred, had long blinded Chen Qing Jin’s eyes, not letting her see this world’s familial affection and love, and instead only saw betrayal and deception, only disgust and hatred.
At this point, she felt the difference in everyone’s gazes as they looked at her and saw Su Wan swollen with arrogance in front of her. Chen Qing Jin remembered the misery of her previous life, thought of the innocent unborn baby that died in her belly. For a moment, sadness rose from her heart. She was also unable to care too much about it as she turned towards Su Wan with a pale face —
In the past life, if it wasn’t beause of Su Wan’s obstruction, gege defintiely would have found justice for her and she wouldn’t have met her end in the fire!
At the thought of this, the gaze that Chen Qing Jin looked at Su Wan with was filled with deep-rooted hatred.
Seeing Chen Qing Jin pounce over at her, Su Wan merely smiled and was going to move when an inner palace servant’s shrill and urgent announcement suddenly came through the main entrance —
“Empress Dowager has arrived!”
The Empress Dowager has come!
Once the crowd in the hall that was watching the excitement heard the announcement, their faces greatly changed and strightened out their makeup while quickly returning to their seats.
“Empress Dowager has come! Jiejie, do not be impulsive!”
Seeing the Empress Dowager’s phoenix carriage about to come in through the door, Chen Qing Yao – who had been coldly watching from the sidelines – suddenly stepped forward, persuading Chen Qing Jin while pulling at her sleeve.
“Let go of me!”
Chen Qing Jin was still not confused by her temper. She knew that if Chen Qing Yao moved at this time, it was definitely for bad intentions.
So she raised her hand to lightly push Chen Qing Yao. She originally thought of pushing her away and not let her hinder her, but when Chen Qing Yao was drawing back, she seemed to have been accidentally tripped by Su Wan, who was beside her. The centre of gravity of her body was unsteady, and she swayed and tumbled onto the floor, her smooth forehead happened to hit the jade floor of the main hall and bright red blood flowed out.
This accident happened too suddenly. When Yu-shi rushed over to hug her daughter, the Empress Dowager’s phoenix carriage had already passed the main hall.
“The Empress Dowager has come. Who is so impudent!”
At this time, there was some confusion in the hall. The inner palace steward that served the Empress Dowager saw the spectacle in the main hall. The steward’s gaze couldn’t help but go cold and loudly chide.
Yu-shi held Chen Qing Yao -whose forehead was bleeding- and shakingly kneeled down on the ground. For a moment, she did not know how to reply.
Chen Qing Jin was the first to return to her senses. She gracefully saluted to the Empress Dowager, without a flustered look on her face: “Your female subject Chen Qing Jin pays respects to Empress Dowager! Wishing Empress Dowager niangniang ten thousand years of good fortune, riches and safety!”
In the past life, Chen Qing Jin was very familiar with the Empress Dowager’s temperament. She knew that the Empress Dowager was not an unreasonable person, and the Empress Dowager appreciates those who face danger fearlessly. Therefore, Chen Qing Jin’s performance was calm and composed. She had also thought of an excuse. As long as the Empress Dowager opened her mouth to ask what the situation right now, she must definitely mention the matter of Su Wan deliberately slandering her!
When she heard Chen Qing Jin’s words, the magnificently dressed Empress Dowager mere lightly raised her eyes to glance at her. Immediately after, her gaze fell onto Su Wan’s face. Seeing Su Wan standing in the middle of the main hall with a pale face, the Empress Dowager couldn’t help but to knit her eyebrows together: “Su jia’s girl, what happened to you? Were you frightened? Come come come, come to aijia, let aijia have a look!” 1
Chen Qing Jin: …….
Everyone: ……
“Empress Dowager!”
When Su Wan heard the Empress Dowager’s voice, her face immediately became full of grievances. She pitifully rushed to the Empress Dowager’s side: “Empress Dowager, you’ve come at just the right time. Just now, Chen Qing Jin wanted to hit me, but Qing Yao meimei blocked her. As a result, she was pushed to the ground and even hurt her forehead! Empress Dowager niangniang, you must seek justice for this female subject!”
“Empress Dowager, you must not listen to Su Wan’s one-sided story! The origin of this matter was actually……”
Chen Qing Jin saw Su Wan inverting right and wrong in front of the Empress Dowager, so she impatiently opened her mouth to justify herself, but she was cut off halfway by the Empress Dowager’s ice-cold and imposing voice!
“Impudent! Did aijia allow you to speak?”
The Empress Dowager’s cold gaze looked at Chen Qing Jin, who was dressed in white brocade and instinctively did not like her, and besides…… she actually still dared to bully her future daughter-in-law?
Once she thought of how her little son finally managed to find a satisfying person with such difficulty, and was even already preparing to get married, as a mother, how could she allow her daughter-in-law to be bullied by others in her territory?
“Yu-shi, tell me what is going on?”
The Empress Dowager’s gaze turned and landed on the bodies of the Yu-shi mother and daughter pair.
Yu-shi’s expression was somewhat complex: “Replying to Empress Dowager, my daughter Qing Jin and Eldest Young Miss Su …..had some misunderstandings. She truly did not want to lay a hand on Eldest Young Miss Su! Hoping for Empress Dowager to see clearly!”
Yu-shi’s voice quivered as if she wanted to defend Chen Qing Jin, but in reality, she was confirming the fact that Chen Qing Jin was commiting physical assault in the hall.
Sure enough, after hearing Yu-shi’s words, the Empress Dowager’s face immediately became gloomy. She lowered her eyes and chillingly and sternly glanced at Chen Qing Jin. Then, she gently gaze at Su Wan in front of her: “Su jia’s girl, were you hurt? Quickly let aijia have a look!”
“Your femae subject is fine, but Qing Yao meimei, she……”
Su Wan delibertely dragged out the last syllable, her gaze falling onto the nearby Chen Qing Yao.
At this moment, Chen Qing Yao’s thoughts were the most complicated compared to others —
Until now, Chen Qing Yao had always thought that she was very smart. No matter it was Chen Qing Jin or Su Wan, they were all rubbish who was played in the palm of her hand.
But only today did she know that that seemingly innocent jiejie has such a cool and calm side. And the good-for-nothing that she had always treated as cannon-fodder Eldest Young Miss Su, is even more brilliant!
Just then, Chen Qing Yao saw Su Wan purposely raise her feet to trip her, and now, she was complaning of injustice in front of the Empress Dowager……
Only at this moment, did Chen Qing Yao notice that this Su Wan before her was very unfamiliar. She was not like the fool of an Eldest Young Miss that she knew before. Perhaps, the current her, is the true her? ……
“Someone come! Help Chen jia’s Young Miss withdraw first and also summon the Imperial Physician to treat her!”
After the Empress Dowager ordered, some inner palace maids immediately stepped foward and took away Chen Qing Yao from Yu-shi’s arms.
Only after Chen Qing Yao was escorted away did the Empress DOwager coldly berate: “Chen Qing Jin, publically acting violent in the main hall, do you know your crime?”
“Your female subject does not!”
Seeing the Empress Dowager intentionally side with Su Wan, Chen Qing Jin was dissatisfied in her heart. She couldn’t help but raise her eyes and confront the Empress Dowager’s eyes: “Your female subject still has things to say! Today’s matters are obviously Su Wan’s…..”
“Aiyou.”
Su Wan’s shout once again interrupted Chen Qing Jin. Chen Qing Jin unpleasantly looked at Su Wan’s exaggerated act of holding her forehead: “My head hurts so much ah! Don’t know if it is because of her anger or not. Empress Dowager, it is all Xiao Wan’s fault. Xiao Wan should not have provoked Young Miss Chen and should not have argued with her. Today was originally a good day, but Xiao Wan let Empress Dowager niangniang feel disappointed. Please punish, Empress Dowager!”
As she spoke, Su Wan assumed a posture as if she wanted to kneel to admit her mistakes, but without waiting for the reactions of the people on the side, the Empress Dowager already personally bent down to support Su Wan’s amrs.
This action stunned the little friends in the room —
Just what luck did this Eldest Young Miss Su run in to? To actually be so favored by the Empress Dowager?
Su Wan: The Empress Dowager’s son is my backer, would I speak carelessly otherwise?
“Xiao Wan does not need to speak like this. Towards right and wrong, everyone naturally has an innate sense of fairness. Aijia will give justice to you!”
This one single ‘Xiao Wan’ that the Empress Dowager offhandedly said, made everyone speechless —
The Empress Dowager was the Emperor’s mother. All the young ladies on the scene were all similar in age with the Princes of the current dynasty. Who had the ability to let the Empress Dowageraddress them directly by name? Even the Crown Prince’s wife did not have that privelge ah!
Within the stupified gazes of the crowd, only Liu-shi could be calm and indifferent —
hat’s right, this old woman’s daughter is the future Jin Wangfei, the Emperor’s younger sister, the Empress Dowager’s daughter-in-law. Even if the Crown Prince sees her, he has to greet ‘ Royal Aunt’ and treat her like his elder.
At the thought of this, Liu-shi’s mood was especialy comfortable.
Wel, in fact, according to order of seniority and status, marrying into Jin Wangfu truly seemed to be pretty good?
At this time, Liu-shi has already agreed to this marriage in her heart. And now, the only thing that worried her was her son-in-law’s weak body ah. If she didn’t want to let her daughter be a widow at a young age, then it was a must to pay a huge price in the future to buy tonics to properly nourish her son-in-law……..
