In truth, Minglan was not simply talking big. If she could truly be rid of that pack of relatives once and for all, she would be perfectly willing to forfeit the Gu family ancestral assets. Money could be earned slowly over time, but that sort of relative was the kind of trouble one could never quite shake loose.
On a certain day, Minglan made her routine visit to Xuanzhi Garden to pay respects to the Lady. In the course of conversation, the matter of merging the residences came up. The Lady had originally expected Minglan to find excuses to delay further — but to her surprise, Minglan was remarkably forthcoming, and with only a few words had progressed to discussing the timeline.
“This Master Zhang, the geomancer, was recommended by Lao Geng’s wife. He has overseen a good many geomantic assessments in the capital, and by all accounts he is honest and close-mouthed — not one of those charlatans traveling about swindling people.”
Zhu Shi cradled her swollen belly beside them and said: “I’ve heard of this old Taoist Master Zhang as well. The year my family’s home expanded two gardens, they invited him to assess the site. They said he was efficacious — guaranteed to bring flourishing prosperity to the household, with all matters of marriage and the bearing of children going smoothly.”
The Lady was pleased to hear this and cut in: “Has a masonry crew been found as well?”
Minglan answered with a smile: “This time we had the great help of Lady Zheng, the First Lady, who recommended one. Before the new year, when her family was welcoming the Empress’s younger sister in marriage, they had just renovated half the residence — the walls, beams, and roofing are all solid and well-built, the underfloor heating and heated beds circulate warmth evenly, and the Second Lady says it is comfortable to live in as well. That crew not only does excellent work, but they are also straightforward people — they did not inflate the price of materials. I had someone bring Lady Zheng’s name card and visit them, and the crew foreman has agreed. They are expected in the next few days to come measure the site and survey the ground, so as to first draft a floor plan for everyone to look over.”
The Lady’s hand, which had been turning the teacup lid, paused briefly: “…Just two days ago the subject of breaking ground was raised, and today you have already arranged everything so neatly. Your hands work quickly. It’s just — a group of strangers entering the inner quarters of the Gu Residence like this seems somewhat inappropriate.”
Shao Shi, watching her mother-in-law’s expression, said softly: “Mother, do you see something amiss?”
“From the Zheng family, what could be amiss? It’s only…” The Lady set down her tea and gently stroked the prayer beads at her wrist. “Minglan, you have only just entered the household and are not familiar with things — there is a masonry crew that the Gu family has long used, from your father-in-law’s time. I had just been intending to ask Steward Mo to speak with you about it.”
Minglan put on an expression of alarm and guilt, lightly covering her mouth: “Oh my — I truly didn’t know about this. However shall we manage? I have already spoken with Lady Zheng, the First Lady — to change the crew at this point would surely be awkward.”
The Lady studied her for a long moment, then said slowly: “Everyone says you are young and have not been through much — and yet I don’t quite see it that way. Tingye is busy with his official duties and has no time to attend to such things. I had originally thought that, being a young and inexperienced daughter-in-law, you would find such a large undertaking difficult to manage. I had no idea that you would proceed without consulting a single elder or sister-in-law of the household, and have everything arranged on your own. Truly, the younger generation is not to be underestimated…”
Minglan pretended not to catch the implication in her words. Adopting the look she had modeled on Wang Shi in front of Sheng Lao — a woman who truly didn’t catch implied meanings — she gazed back with an expression of uncomplicated ignorance and smiled: “It is entirely thanks to your good graces, my Lady.”
She finally understood now why Sheng Lao had grown increasingly blunt in reprimanding Wang Shi — a daughter-in-law who was obtuse and yet impossible to dismiss could indeed turn even the most reserved and refined lady of a great household into a forceful, outspoken mother-in-law.
Shao Shi seemed not quite at ease with the atmosphere and turned her head slightly to one side. Zhu Shi kept her eyes down and stroked her belly. A vigorous and powerful stepson with authority, a stepmother against whom there had been previous friction — what degree of subservience could one really expect from a daughter-in-law in that position?
The Lady knew this was not the moment to make a scene, and chose to feign deafness and ignorance, thinking first to see her daughter married off and deal with everything else afterward.
Minglan, for her part, had no intention of picking fights either. She was busy enough as it was — in addition to the ongoing household management, she also had to oversee the demolition and construction work. The initial task was to tear down most of the outer fencing and high walls separating the Marquis Residence and Chengyuan, extend the outer walls of the two estates to connect them, and encompass both the small vacant courtyard and the stretch of woodland between them.
That part was relatively straightforward. The real expense lay in the interior work. The overgrown woodland had to be laid out according to a plan — what needed to be enclosed would be enclosed, what needed to be leveled could be leveled and planted with fruit trees and flowering plants. After leaving broad, spacious paths, there would be no shortage of pavilions, terraces, and towers to build.
No rush, Minglan thought — she would improve things gradually, doing as much as her finances allowed.
Since it was not proper for a lady to appear in public, Steward Hao Dacheng was left to run back and forth between the two sides a dozen times a day. Minglan herself often talked until her mouth went dry. As for the male master of the house — a certain Gu — he had visited the construction site a grand total of two times in passing, gone over the blueprints once, left behind the single contribution of “make the gate a little smaller,” and then swept off his sleeves to continue devoting himself wholeheartedly to the service of his country and its people.
Life went on, and the construction continued at its unhurried pace.
The autumn winds were brisk; the autumn crabs were fat. The palace issued gifts: every family of Wang rank received mooncakes, taro, chestnuts, and chrysanthemum hairpins, as a demonstration of imperial grace and benevolence. And for those few households particularly in royal favor at that time, there were additional gifts besides.
Minglan received six varieties of large-petaled, imperial-grade chrysanthemums — dark ink, golden yellow, deep purple, pale pink, crimson, and snow white — along with ten hampers of fresh tribute crabs. Such an extraordinary gift beyond the usual custom required a trip to the palace to offer thanks.
Whether the palace nobles would receive her was another matter — a subject’s duty was to observe the proper rituals, otherwise it was an act of great disrespect. After submitting the name card to the Imperial Household Department and receiving approval (what a disappointment), the following day Minglan had no choice but to rise early, dress herself properly, and have her carriage driven to the palace.
Once through the inner gates of the imperial city one had to descend from the carriage, and then — wearing her weighty formal regalia, stomach only half-full — she had to walk on foot across the vast expanse of the palace grounds, all the while maintaining a facial expression of constant awe and gratitude, twisted with delight — a truly punishing ordeal.
Minglan would rather receive fewer imperial gifts.
Led by palace attendants, she finally walked into a palace hall, where two noblewomen already sat waiting, each dressed in the formal attire of a first-rank imperial lady. One was around forty years of age, pale and composed in bearing — Minglan did not recognize her. The other turned out to be Guo Shi, the wife of the National Uncle, whom she had not seen in quite some time.
The two women behaved with the ease and familiarity of close acquaintance, and their features bore a degree of resemblance.
Minglan did her best to produce an elegant smile for both of them, then moved in the fastest manner that palace etiquette would permit to find a place to sit. Having settled herself, she gently tilted her head toward the two noblewomen and exchanged a few words of greeting with Guo Shi. But before she could say much else, a female official stepped in from outside and announced clearly: “All ladies, please proceed to Yining Palace.”
Minglan’s heart sank. Yining Palace was where the Empress Dowager Shengde resided. She immediately rose, and as they moved to depart, Guo Shi smiled at Minglan: “This is my mother.” Minglan had already guessed most of it. She stopped and quickly performed a formal bow: “I pay my respects to the Lady of Yingguo Duke.”
“There’s no need for such formality.” The Lady of Yingguo Duke, Zhang Furen, carried herself with the dignity and grace of long breeding, and warmly took Minglan’s hand. Walking alongside her, she observed Minglan with a quiet smile: “A truly fine appearance. I heard that our Second Young Master had done well in marrying — now that I have seen for myself, I see the reports were no exaggeration.”
Minglan blushed and offered several modest demurrals.
One could not speak freely in the palace. Everyone walked quietly and obediently behind the palace attendants. Before long they arrived at Yining Palace. After the palace attendants announced their arrival, the group filed in, knelt in formal obeisance, and then stood deferentially to one side with lowered heads.
Nanny Kong had once taught the Sheng daughters several postures — ways of appearing respectfully bowed with head down while still taking in one’s surroundings without detection. Minglan chose one now, turning her cheek very slightly, eyes still, moving only her gaze — and could thus clearly observe the scene around her.
A full chamber of ladies in palace dress: Minglan seized the moment to look, and saw that the Empress Dowager Shengde was seated in the central position of honor. In the next seat was the Empress, with her younger sister Xiao Shen Shi standing beside her — both women wore rather strained expressions. The Empress Dowager Shengde, judging by her manner and speech, must have been a bright and lively beauty in her youth. She smiled toward the newly arrived party and said: “I have just received a new variety of tea, so I invited the Empress and her sister to share it with me — what a trouble to have put you ladies to an extra trip.”
Minglan and the others quickly offered polite dismissals, expressing their gratitude several times over.
Xiao Shen Shi composed a smile and stepped down to where Zhang Furen and her daughter stood, offering a bow to her sister-in-law and maternal relative by marriage. The Empress smiled down from above: “I was just thinking of you all. I have some freshly made Eight-Treasure Black Rice Cake from the imperial kitchens — a southern recipe from Shu, one you’ll not find the like of in the capital. You must take some with you to taste.”
Zhang Furen led the thanks, with Minglan and Guo Shi following suit. Zhang Furen said with a smile: “They say southern cuisine is richly varied and ever-changing — those of us who have been in the capital for a lifetime have today been fortunate to receive the Empress’s grace.” The Empress smiled pleasantly and exchanged a few more courteous words. She glanced at the pregnant Noble Consort Yu beside her, and with a slight frown said: “You are in a delicate condition — you should go back and rest.”
Noble Consort Yu, whose beauty bloomed even more brilliantly with pregnancy, only smiled and said: “The Empress shows great consideration for this servant. But this servant has been greedy since childhood, and it is rarely I get to share in such fine tea. How could I bear to leave?”
The Empress Dowager Shengde laughed with delight: “You little imp! That tongue of yours is just what people love about you — no wonder the Emperor and Empress both adore you these days!”
“Grand Empress Dowager, how can you say that — surely you adore this servant too?” Noble Consort Yu pouted in mock complaint.
Seated beside the Empress Dowager Shengde was a slender young woman — her own daughter-in-law, Consort of Yu Wang. She, too, took the opportunity to offer a few pleasantries, and laughter and merriment filled the hall. Only the Empress’s expression grew increasingly constrained as she maintained an air of composure with visible effort.
Minglan swiftly withdrew her gaze and lowered her head.
The Emperor, fearing his own mother might suffer mistreatment, had deliberately arranged for the two Empress Dowagers to be housed separately, so that Empress Dowager Sheng’an might live in comfort. It was only the Empress who bore the inconvenience, making the early morning rounds to two separate palaces to pay respects to two different mothers-in-law, and then returning to her own palace to receive the morning greetings of the consorts.
The Yingguo Duke family was foremost among the ducal houses, with a preeminent position at court that commanded universal respect. The Empress Dowager Shengde therefore offered Zhang Furen a seat. Minglan and Xiao Shen Shi and Guo Shi also benefited, receiving a small side stool to perch upon. Minglan silently breathed a fervent prayer of thanks.
No sooner had she settled than the Empress Dowager Shengde turned to Zhang Furen with a half-smile: “In your presence, I’ll not hide things. Come and take a look at these two…” She indicated with her hand toward two palace-dressed young women beside her. Minglan followed her gaze and couldn’t help a small intake of astonished breath. A pair of strikingly beautiful women — both under twenty, past the age of early girlhood, yet truly dazzling with an almost overwhelming brilliance of beauty.
“They have served at my side for many years — gentle and well-mannered, sensible and principled, and I am very fond of them. Now that they are of no small age, I intend to arrange a place for them to go. …Ah, for the sake of my own reluctance, I had originally thought to send them to serve the Emperor. But unexpectedly the Empress took great displeasure at the idea.” The Empress Dowager Shengde sighed repeatedly with a melancholy air, her gaze aimed quite directly at Zhang Furen.
She was reproaching the Empress for jealousy.
Minglan silently counted the pearls on her skirt and quietly recited to herself: “I am not the lead role. I am merely an extra with no lines.”
Zhang Furen was no pushover either. She smiled genially and said: “The Emperor has many sons now — which is surely a testament to the Empress’s benevolence and virtue. The Grand Empress Dowager naturally has the kindest of intentions. However, the Empress also has her own considerations. Since these two young ladies are of such outstanding quality, would it not be more fitting for the Grand Empress Dowager to find them well-matched young men of appropriate age and distinction? Would that not be even more ideal?”
At these words, the Empress’s expression softened imperceptibly. Her smiling eyes rested briefly on Zhang Furen with an appreciative glance, as if silently rewarding her.
The Grand Empress Dowager had been gently but firmly deflected. She gave a mild smile: “Well then, I shan’t think of keeping them in the palace. Since they cannot stay here, I may as well find them someone close by. What of the National Uncle, General Zheng… ” Her gaze swept the hall like a line of cold light, came to rest on Minglan: “And there is also Marshal Gu — they could take them as secondary wives. That way, I would still be able to see them often.”
Minglan’s heart let out a silent wail — hit by a stray arrow just minding her own business! The Grand Empress Dowager’s real target was obviously the Shen family. Gu Tingye was probably just thrown in as an afterthought.
Xiao Shen Shi was the first to spring to her feet, but immediately forced herself to suppress her alarm. Her voice was strained but she held it steady: “That simply cannot be done. The ladies in the Grand Empress Dowager’s service are all of great distinction — surely they ought to be found a proper marriage, not made into concubines.”
The Empress Dowager Shengde let out a cheerful laugh, watching Xiao Shen Shi’s frantic panic with evident pleasure: “What is so distinguished about them? They were originally girls of common village origin who entered the palace as children — they have neither family nor patron. Rather than saying we are finding them husbands, it is more accurate to say we need to find them a principal mistress with a kind and generous heart, who, out of consideration for my feelings, will allow them to live decently. Well — will any of you ladies do this service for me?”
The last sentence rose slightly in pitch at the end, carrying just a faint undertone of coercion.
The Empress’s face went pale and then flushed; Xiao Shen Shi’s face suffused with a red so deep it nearly bled; only Guo Shi’s expression remained natural and composed. She stepped quietly forward, performed a bow, and said: “This subject-wife obeys the Grand Empress Dowager’s command.”
Zhang Furen looked at her daughter with a blend of compassion, heartache, and the faintest trace of reproach.
Hearing Guo Shi’s words, Minglan nearly blurted out: “In that case, you might as well take both of them — spare your sister and me the headache. What a fine and virtuous principal mistress — the Grand Empress Dowager need not worry at all.”
She managed, just in time, to remember what manner of occasion this was, and heroically brought her tongue to heel.
But the Grand Empress Dowager had more maneuvers still. She assumed a mournful, sighing tone: “For the sake of mourning the late Emperor, several of my maids have been delayed — I have always wanted to find each of them a good marriage.”
Minglan couldn’t help glancing at those two young women once more. They stood with bowed heads and lowered lashes, their powdered faces touched with a becoming flush — their coquettish bashfulness only made them more strikingly, almost startlingly beautiful. Minglan gazed at them until she felt somewhat dazed.
Suddenly, she understood. These young women must have been the Empress Dowager Shengde’s own preparations for her son — but fate had struck a blow from nowhere, her son’s throne had been usurped, and she herself had been confined. These two young women, too, had been left in limbo.
Behind the screen beside the two young women, shadows suggested the presence of more beautiful figures standing there. Minglan began to drift off into random thoughts — could there be a reserve contingent?
The Grand Empress Dowager asked Xiao Shen Shi again. Xiao Shen Shi kept her lips pressed together in silence, her desperate gaze making a circuit of the Empress’s face.
The Empress Dowager Shengde was in no hurry. She watched with pleasure as Xiao Shen Shi squirmed and floundered, then slowly turned toward Minglan. She was just about to speak, when the Consort of Yu Wang beside her suddenly said: “Lady Gu, what are you smiling about?”
The eyes of everyone in the hall converged on a single point. The wife of Marshal Gu stood respectfully to one side in a posture of courteous deference — but something she had been thinking about had caused the corners of her mouth to curve into a faint, shallow smile.
“Lady Gu, what are you smiling at? Surely you do not find the Grand Empress Dowager amusing?” The Consort of Yu Wang had originally been a gentle and benevolent woman, well-regarded throughout the capital for her good character. But since the day she had watched her husband die from poisoned wine before her own eyes, the heavens and earth had altered entirely, and her temperament had turned somewhat sharp.
Snapped back to attention, Minglan quietly reproached herself for her lapse. One moment of carelessness — and to think she had actually forgotten the vigilant, measured steps she had once walked at every moment back in the Sheng household. After returning home, she would have to put herself through that training again. Her past experience told her that at a moment like this, performing forced composure and unshakeable calm would be far less effective than simply behaving naturally.
“I — this subject-wife — how would this subject-wife dare to laugh at the Grand Empress Dowager…” Minglan’s face revealed a flicker of alarm, and her voice came out slightly faltering.
As expected, this manner worked perfectly. Both the Grand Empress Dowager and the Consort of Yu Wang watched her with cheerful amusement, looking quite entertained and gratified.
The topic was redirected, and Xiao Shen Shi exhaled in quiet relief. The Empress, seizing the opening, immediately said: “The Consort of Yu Wang speaks too hastily. Lady Gu is educated and well-bred — how could she be so impolite? Don’t be so severe, or you will frighten her — she isn’t as resilient as my own sister!”
Half playful and half rebuking, the Empress’s words were beyond question — save for the two Empress Dowagers, there was no woman in all the realm she could not address in this manner.
The Consort of Yu Wang’s expression stiffened, and she said no more. The Empress Dowager Shengde had barely parted her lips to begin again when Zhang Furen turned to Minglan with a smile: “What were you smiling about just now?”
A ladder had been offered. Minglan descended it promptly.
“The Grand Empress Dowager speaks of joyful matters — why would this subject-wife mock them? It is only…” Minglan covered her mouth with her sleeve and smiled shyly: “This subject-wife was thinking that the matchmaker deity Yue Lao has been quite busy of late, with weddings and betrothals everywhere. This subject-wife herself is about to attend to several such matters.”
“How so?” The Grand Empress Dowager showed interest.
Minglan replied respectfully: “To inform the Grand Empress Dowager — the Marquis recently said that in order to station troops in the northern frontier, the soldiers needed a stable state of mind, and it would be best to ensure the men all had families to return to. Those who were yet unmarried should marry promptly. Therefore the Marquis has asked this subject-wife to find among our household maids those who are of marriageable age, so they may be wedded to the soldiers and go to the northern frontier. Unfortunately…”
She spoke in a hesitant, slightly fragile tone, her voice perfectly calibrated.
Xiao Shen Shi — who had been like an ant on a hot pan — suddenly brightened and spoke up in a loud voice: “I have heard of this too. The soldiers in this deployment are largely local conscripts from the northern frontier region. The area has suffered years of warfare and upheaval — the population is sparse. Where is one to find brides there? The soldiers are already leaving their hometowns and parting from family — and knowing it is the northern frontier they are headed to, very few families are willing to offer their daughters in marriage.”
This was true — she wasn’t fabricating it, though she had put a somewhat more dramatic emphasis on it than the actual situation warranted.
“Indeed.” Minglan picked up the thread, affecting an air of worried concern: “Ordinary commoner women — we cannot compel them to marry. We can only look to the maids of our own households. But even counting everyone up, it is a drop in the ocean. We are quite troubled over it.”
The Empress couldn’t hold back a question: “And the maids are willing to go?” She had spent some time in remote, impoverished regions herself and knew how few people were willing to part with the luxury of the capital.
Minglan hesitated, as though reluctant to say it plainly: “In response to the Empress’s inquiry — this subject-wife has offered the maids who are willing to go some silver as a dowry, and a few have consented.” Most of them were, of course, the lower-ranking purchased maids.
Zhang Furen looked at her with a smile and said: “What a hardship for this child.” She turned to look at her daughter: “Now I understand why you asked me last time whether I had any maids to release from service — you were working this same scheme too.”
The Empress nodded along with approval. Guo Shi smiled a little and did not say much. The Empress Dowager Shengde, having listened to this long and winding digression, furrowed her brow slightly. She was just gathering herself to redirect the conversation, when Xiao Shen Shi, animated and energized, stepped eagerly forward. Perhaps pressure and adversity genuinely did bring out human potential — Xiao Shen Shi had a sudden flash of inspiration and arrived at a plan. She turned toward the Empress and the Grand Empress Dowager and declared in a loud, clear voice: “Grand Empress Dowager, Your Majesty — what if the palace maids who are past the prescribed age of service were matched with these soldiers? Would that not be fitting?”
“Preposterous!”
“How dare you!”
The Empress Dowager grandmother and daughter-in-law both censured her sharply at the same time. Xiao Shen Shi refused to be cowed and was about to speak again, but the Empress, afraid she would make things worse, hurriedly cut her off: “Xiuzhi, stop your wild talk! The ladies in the Grand Empress Dowager’s service are not yours to speak of so freely!”
Xiao Shen Shi’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, on the verge of speaking again — when unexpectedly a deep, aged voice rang out from behind them: “What wild talk? I think this idea is excellent!”
Everyone turned simultaneously to look, and saw two elderly noblewomen entering arm-in-arm. One was the Empress Dowager Sheng’an. Behind them trailed two long rows of ceremonial attendants and palace servants.
“Aunt and Mother are here!” The joy in the Empress’s voice was impossible to disguise.
All the noblewomen except the Empress Dowager Shengde filed behind the Empress to perform obeisance to the Grand Princess and the Empress Dowager Sheng’an.
“You have good tea and only know to eat it by yourself, without sending word to us — what kind of reason is that?!” The Grand Princess, once seated, merely fixed one eye upon the proceedings with a languid, offhand look, taunting cheerfully.
The Empress Dowager Shengde, upon seeing her, appeared thoroughly resigned, and kept protesting she would never dare: “Had I known you were there, nothing in the world could have made me leave you out.”
Such bearing. Such authority. This could be none other than the Grand Princess Qingning. Minglan deduced inwardly.
After a few exchanges of banter, Grand Princess Qingning suddenly straightened her expression and addressed the Consort of Yu Wang: “I was listening outside just now — what were you doing, scolding the Empress’s sister? What did she say that was wrong?”
The Consort of Yu Wang stood rigid, gritting her teeth: “The personal maids attending the Grand Empress Dowager cannot be reduced to becoming a common soldier’s wife. If word got out, would that not be a humiliation to the Grand Empress Dowager’s dignity?”
“Oh? For that? You have no cause for worry.” Grand Princess Qingning waved her hand in dismissal. “Surely there are plenty of young lieutenant officers and senior soldiers in the army. To be matched with them can hardly be considered a demeaning match. And if things go well and a husband earns distinction, the life ahead will be full of good days — isn’t that better than being a concubine?!”
A string of crisp and incisive words left the Empress Dowager grandmother and daughter-in-law speechless.
The Grand Princess had been the most powerful Princess in the imperial court since the late years of Emperor Wu’s reign. And one had to say, Heaven had been remarkably generous to her.
She had been born of a palace maid — nothing more. Yet the very year her birth mother died of illness, the Empress’s own beloved daughter — born of the principal consort — died suddenly within days of the birth mother’s passing. To ease Empress Jing’an’s grief, Emperor Wu had placed the then-infant Qingning in the Empress’s care. And of course, the girl herself was clever and capable, with a gracious and perceptive manner in all she said and did, winning the Empress’s genuine affection before long.
By extension, Emperor Wu treated her as a beloved daughter, favoring and cherishing her. The preceding Emperor treated her as his own older sister, with deep respect and reverence. Those princesses born of higher-ranked consorts — Noble Consorts and Pure Consorts — had in the end all fallen behind her in precedence.
Upon reaching adulthood, she married a handsome and leisurely young man from a refined noble household. Husband and wife lived in harmony; children and grandchildren flourished. For decades, she had sailed smoothly through life.
The only thing that ever gave her a headache was probably her youngest son, born when she was forty — something of a wayward young man, who in the year of the new Emperor’s accession had been caught frequenting a pleasure district during the mourning period and had spent some time in a labor reform facility as a consequence. But Grand Princess Qingning was no ordinary person. Her decades of smooth sailing rested not only on her brotherly bond with the previous Emperor, but on her own considerable abilities. Once the Emperor invited her into the palace for a sincere and earnest conversation, she quickly adjusted her stance. Aunt and nephew reconciled with the speed of a meteor.
The Empress, having endured considerable grievances just now, was overjoyed to have a backer, and immediately said: “Aunt speaks rightly. Earlier, Mother also said that these young ladies were originally of common village origin — with no father or mother to speak of.”
“Well then, that settles it.” Grand Princess Qingning slapped the table with approval. “We’ll go talk to the Emperor about it later. Since the late Emperor passed, the palace ought long since to have released some of these women. This occasion happens to be a perfect opportunity — rather than leaving them without a proper livelihood, would it not be better to settle the matter this way? Isn’t that killing two birds with one stone?”
Empress Dowager Sheng’an smiled placidly: “You are still just as impulsive as ever — how old are you now?”
The two of them traded remarks back and forth, looking on the verge of settling the matter on the spot, while the bystanders who had heard everything stared in wide-eyed disbelief.
The Empress Dowager Shengde seethed with barely contained anger, her expression darkening: “These girls have been gently raised and lovingly cared for — like tender flowers. To send them to the northern frontier is sending lambs into the jaws of wolves. What utter nonsense!”
Grand Princess Qingning stood tall, her gaze blazing: “The state faces great affairs — if we do not make a contribution, who will? The palace has maids of advancing age without husbands waiting for them, and in the army are fine young men of valor, loyal to the Emperor and defending the frontier, praying for a wife. This is a heaven-sent match — what is wrong with it?!”
The tension in the air crackled like static, ready to spark at any moment. Minglan quietly pressed her back against the wall, lowered her head, and resumed her silent meditation: “I am only an extra. I am not the lead role…”