Official or not, a concubine was a concubine; it was just a way to address the concubine with the highest status alongside the crown prince’s official wife. Feng Wu was too proud a girl to ever agree to that.
If Feng Wu was to be the official concubine, who did the empress dowager have in mind as Jun Linyuan’s wife?
Jun Linyuan narrowed his eyes. Raising his hand, he saw Feng Wu at the door.
She was sneering at him.
Jun Linyuan’s pupils contracted when he saw that smirk!
He cut the empress dowager off and said impatiently, “I’m going back to my residence.”
The empress dowager panicked!
“What’s wrong with staying in Cining Palace?”
“Too noisy.”
“How about your bedchamber in the palace…”
“I don’t like it.”
“But what if you fall ill again when I’m not around…”
Jun Linyuan asked, “Are you a doctor?”
That successfully shut the old lady up.
Lady Northern Feng sighed inwardly. Everyone would always be trounced by someone else. Little Feng Wu was Jun Linyuan’s weak point in the same way that Jun Linyuan was the empress dowager’s weak point and the empress dowager Emperor Wu’s weak point… Based on that logic, had Feng Wu become the most authoritative figure in the empire?!
No matter how hard the empress dowager tried, Jun Linyuan wouldn’t stay.
It was just what Jun Linyuan was like. He always got what he wanted and he wouldn’t be persuaded by anyone.
The empress dowager knew Jun Linyuan too well. In the end, she had to let Granny Tao pack Jun Linyuan’s things and see Jun Linyuan off at the gate.
She flared up again when she saw Jun Linyuan dragging Feng Wu along behind him.
Glaring at the girl, the empress dowager wanted to scold her, but she had to suppress her anger when she realized that the crown prince would need Feng Wu if he fell ill again.
“You, come over here!”
The empress dowager wanted to tell Feng Wu off in private.
However, Jun Linyuan wouldn’t let go of Feng Wu. He only glanced at the empress dowager and continued making his way toward the gate.
The empress dowager might be the most arrogant lady in the empire, but there was nothing she could do when Jun Linyuan decided to leave. She turned to Granny Tao in a haste. “Quickly, get the carriage ready! And fetch him his thick cape! And —”
She even wanted to go out to see him off herself, but Granny Tao stopped her.
“It’s chilly outside, and Your Majesty will need to do a lot in preparation before you go out, which will take too long. You can always visit His Royal Highness after he settles down at home. How about tomorrow?”
Granny Tao’s words carried weight, and the empress dowager was persuaded.
They stood in the long corridor as the carriage drove away… Then, the empress dowager saw the crown prince drag Feng Wu into the carriage with him!
“That’s the royal carriage!” The empress dowager lost her temper again.
Her grip on Granny Tao was so tight that her fingernails almost dug into the granny’s flesh.
The empress dowager bellowed, “What kind of girl is she?! How can she be so shameless?! She crawled into the crown prince’s carriage in broad daylight!”
Granny Tao sighed in resignation. She couldn’t help but vent her sarcasm inwardly. Anyone who wasn’t blind could see that Miss Feng Wu had been forced, and the crown prince was the one forcing her.
However, she couldn’t say that to the empress dowager, for it would certainly set the old woman off.
Granny Tao smiled bitterly. “I think His Royal Highness was only trying to use her as a blanket to shield him from the draught.”
The empress dowager asked, “Is that so?”
Granny Tao said, “It’s very likely.”
The empress dowager grunted. “Hmph! That girl will bring us nothing but trouble!”
Granny Tao and Lady Northern Feng exchanged looks, and both saw resignation on each other’s faces.
Xiao Wu was such a wonderful girl. Why wouldn’t the empress dowager accept her?
