Chapter 321 – The Imperial Decree (1)
Tousled hair and slightly soiled clothes, Ye Zhen certainly didn’t look the prim and proper miss she was. Faced with the discerning gazes of the two women, she attributed her current unkempt condition to the time she was picking fruits saying she didn’t know when her clothes got dirty. Neither empress dowager nor Old Madam Lu smelt anything fishy and simply ordered the maids to help clean her up.
Not long after, Xu Huiru returned as well.
The empress dowager was taken aback when she saw her. “Xian Fei Xu, shouldn’t you be with the emperor?”
Xu Huiru looked a little discomfited. However, maintaining her becoming smile, she said, “Your Imperial Highness, His Imperial Majesty said that he still needed to return to look at the court memorials, and told me to stay here and accompany you. He will come another day and have a look around Baihua Garden with you.” When she spoke her eyes uncontrollably glanced towards Ye Zhen, and though she saw that her expression was like it usually was and didn’t seem to be any different from what it was in her usual condition, she still felt like there was something pressing on her heart. Mo Rongzhan had only given up on her because of her new status as Princess…
Had the emperor left to go find her?
She didn’t dare think any further and restrained herself from walking the path of overthinking. Lu Yaoyao was already a princess, which made her the younger sister of the emperor. Even if there was something between the two before, there was no possibility that there would be anything from this point on. Only when she thought about it like this did her heart settles somewhat.
However, the empress dowager was a little disappointed. She had always felt that her eldest son lived an overly lonely life. What a chance that such a caring, gentle, and becoming girl like Xu Hui Ru would be at his side, yet how could he still be unmoved?
After their trip to the Baihua Garden ended, the empress dowager returned to her palace. Not long after, Mo Rongzhan went to pay his respects to her. “I had planned on accompanying Imperial Mother, but who would have thought that Prime Minister Xu would bring up the river repairs. I had to return to the court and discuss this with the court officials. I’ll go with you to Baihua Garden next time,” Mo Rongzhan said lowly. All signs of his former anger in the garden had already dissipated.
The empress dowager looked at him for a while. “Emperor, I have already decided to make Yaoyao a princess. What do you think about this?”
What did he think about this?!What could he think about this?! Mo Rongzhan silently thought. He looked up only to see his mother looking at him in concern. He smiled and said, “As long as Imperial Mother likes it, it is fine.”
“Yaoyao’s temperament is not suitable for living in the palace. I want to let her continue doing what she likes. I’ll just be giving her a title. In the future, when she gets married, I’ll build her a Princess’s Mansion,” the empress dowager said.
Mo Rongzhan’s eyes grew slightly dark. “Does she still want to attend classes at the School of Medicine?”
“That’s right. Speaking of this, wasn’t the reason she was able to help A’Yi out of disaster this time her medical skills? I think seeing that she has skills in this area, and likes studying medicine so much, I will let her do as she likes,” the empress dowager said with a laugh.
“All right then,” Mo Rongzhan said flatly.
Once they were done eating, Mo Rongzhan left Cining Palace. He didn’t want to hear anything else concerning Lu Yaoyao. On his way back from Baihua Garden, he had already thought things through.
She was nothing more than a girl that he had fallen for a little bit. Seeing that she thought nothing of him, why should he continue to care for her? After all, not every person could be like his Little Yaoyao, etching an unforgettable mark in his heart.
“Lady Cheng, have I erred? How does the emperor really feel about Yaoyao?” the empress dowager looked at Mo Rongzhan’s departing figure, and couldn’t help but ask her handmaiden standing beside her.
“Your Imperial Highness, I cannot tell what His Imperial Majesty thinks either,” Lady Cheng said in a whisper, “However, I can tell that Miss Yaoyao… most definitely does not think that way.”
The empress dowager slightly nodded her head. “I’ve already noticed that she does not hold any of those intents. That was why I wanted to make her a princess. Aye, this son of mine, I do not know who he is like. How is he so withdrawn? There are so many consorts in the palace… Is it that there is not a single person that he can look eye to eye with?”
Lady Cheng lightly nodded. She was slightly afraid of the emperor and didn’t dare hazard a guess about his thoughts.
“If it weren’t that Yaoyao looked so much like her, I would really want to marry her to the emperor.” Empress Dowager said in a whisper, “I’m just afraid of the fact that, in the future, when the emperor knows the truth, he will treat Yaoyao like he did her. At that point, wouldn’t I be a sinner?”
Lady Cheng was taken aback. She immediately felt that the empress dowager’s decision to make Lu Yaoyao a princess was actually a means of protecting her. “Empress Dowager, please don’t think too much now. How would Miss Yaoyao be the same as … Wang Fei? Miss Yaoyao is a very fortunate person. She has an Imperial Mother like you to look over her. ”
Empress Dowager laughed and nodded. “Hmm, you are right.”
