The next day, Jiang Si went to the palace to pay respects to the Empress.
Earlier, Princess Fuqing and the Fourteenth Princess had specially visited her at the Yan Prince’s Manor, giving her a solid reason for this palace visit.
“That day when the two princesses came to the manor to see me, I neglected them due to my vow not to leave the small Buddha hall until the Prince’s return. I’ve come today to apologize to my two younger sisters,” Jiang Si explained.
The Empress was pleased to see Jiang Si’s tact and said with a smile, “You’re being too formal. How can an elder sister-in-law apologize to her younger sisters? If word got out, people would laugh at those two little girls. But Fuqing likes you the most, she must be overjoyed knowing you’ve come to the palace today.”
The Empress had already heard about yesterday’s amusing incident at Yuquan Palace, which made her view Jiang Si even more favorably.
As Yu Jin had said, there were no truly non-competitive people in the palace.
The Empress was childless. At first, those who misjudged the situation thought a childless Empress wouldn’t last long, and they often came to flaunt before her.
This was like rubbing salt in the Empress’s wounds. How could she be happy? She simply remained calm because she understood the situation clearly.
Later, seeing that Emperor Jingming’s respect for his Empress hadn’t diminished, and even seemed to increase in recent years, those people finally behaved, turning to curry favor with the Empress instead.
But the Empress was clear-minded. If she were to pass away before the Emperor, that would be the end of it. But if she outlived the Emperor and became the Empress Dowager, her relationship with the new emperor might be distant, and certain people’s attitudes would likely change again.
Although the Empress understood this clearly, she was helpless.
She couldn’t conjure a son out of thin air, so she had no choice but to watch one of the consorts potentially rise to power in the future.
The Empress was only human, with human emotions. Seeing Yu Jin and Noble Consort Xian at odds gave her a secret sense of schadenfreude that she couldn’t express to others.
Ahem, of course, it wasn’t right for an Empress to think this way, but couldn’t she enjoy it privately?
With these thoughts, the Empress wore a faint smile, maintaining a dignified appearance.
“Have the two sisters gone to Cining Palace?” Jiang Si asked.
The Empress nodded with a smile, “Yes, they go to accompany the Empress Dowager at this time every day. But I’ve already sent someone to inform Fuqing and the Fourteenth Princess. They’ll come over after paying respects to the Empress Dowager.”
“It seems the Imperial Grandmother is very fond of the two sisters,” Jiang Si said casually but pondered inwardly.
If there was an issue with the Empress Dowager, would someone hiding a secret for years invite her granddaughters for a daily company out of loneliness? After all, the two princesses hadn’t grown up by the Empress Dowager’s side, so there shouldn’t be much emotional attachment.
Jiang Si sensed something strange but couldn’t figure out why, so she could only observe quietly for now.
“I didn’t expect Fuqing and the Fourteenth Princess to have such good fortune, to be favored by the Empress Dowager,” the Empress said. If at first, she had been nervous about the Empress Dowager’s request for her daughters to keep her company, after so long without incident, she had naturally relaxed.
Jiang Si smiled in agreement.
The Empress suddenly changed the subject: “I’m curious about how you came up with the idea of chanting sutras and praying for blessings?”
Jiang Si’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, her eyes showing a hint of helplessness. “At that time, believing my brother had met with misfortune and the Prince was away, I, as a weak woman in the Prince’s Manor, couldn’t do much. But not doing anything made me uneasy. After much thought, I could only hide in the small Buddha hall to chant sutras and pray for peace of mind…”
The Empress’s mouth twitched.
A weak woman? The Yan Prince’s wife wasn’t being very honest.
But that wasn’t the main point. The main point was yet to come.
The Empress suppressed her embarrassment and asked casually, “Which Bodhisattva did you pray to?”
The Emperor must have been possessed lately, hinting several times that she should set up a small Buddha hall in Kunning Palace and pray occasionally.
This was bearable, but the Emperor had also specified that she should pray to the same Bodhisattva as the Yan Prince’s wife, which was truly intolerable.
Intolerable as it was, she had to endure it, hence this question.
Having asked, the Empress’s face flushed, and she inwardly cursed Emperor Jingming several times, though not too harshly, after all, he was the Emperor.
Jiang Si’s expression became momentarily subtle, but she quickly recovered and said with suppressed laughter, “I prayed to the Child-Giving Goddess.”
The Empress was shocked upon hearing this, her expression twisting.
That wasn’t right. Why pray to the Child-Giving Goddess for the safe return of a husband from a distant journey?
Jiang Si explained, “There happened to be a statue of the Child-Giving Goddess in the Prince’s Manor. I thought that since the Bodhisattva is kind-hearted, as long as one is sincere, praying for safety should also be fine—”
The Empress’s expression became even more complex.
Could it work like that?
She didn’t know whether to say the Yan Prince’s wife was too carefree or incredibly lucky.
Praying for safety to the Child-Giving Goddess, and it worked? Was there any justice in this world?
But one thing the Empress was certain of if the Emperor asked her to pray daily to the Child-Giving Goddess, she would give up being Empress and fight him!
At the Empress’s age and status, this went beyond mere embarrassment.
Having made up her mind, the Empress instantly lost interest in this topic.
At this moment, a palace maid came to report: “Your Majesty, the two princesses have arrived.”
Laughter preceded their entrance, and then a girl with beautiful features walked in. After paying respects to the Empress, she took Jiang Si’s hand and said, “I was worried Seventh Sister-in-law had already left.”
The girl with outstanding beauty was none other than Princess Fuqing.
The girl who followed closely behind was slightly more slender than Princess Fuqing, with a quiet demeanor, undoubtedly the Fourteenth Princess.
After exchanging greetings, Jiang Si smiled and said, “I came especially today to apologize to my two younger sisters. How could I leave? Even if I had to shamelessly overstay my welcome at Mother Empress’s place.”
Princess Fuqing’s face reddened slightly, and she said bashfully, “Seventh Sister-in-law is just joking. I’m already very happy that you came to the palace to play with us. Fourteenth Sister, don’t you agree?”
The Fourteenth Princess didn’t expect Princess Fuqing to ask her opinion and was momentarily stunned before nodding, “Yes, we didn’t get to talk properly the last time we met Seventh Sister-in-law.”
In the Fourteenth Princess’s heart, she wasn’t as close to Jiang Si.
She didn’t dislike this seventh sister-in-law, but the Yan Prince’s wife had shown several extraordinary abilities, and her mother’s words after returning from the Yan Prince’s Manor that day all proved that the Yan Prince’s wife was no ordinary person.
She preferred to keep her distance from extraordinary people, after all, she wasn’t as noble as her Thirteenth Sister, and a rootless princess could easily invite trouble.
The atmosphere remained harmonious until the Empress shooed them away: “Alright, didn’t you say you were going to embroider a longevity screen for your Imperial Grandmother? It’s getting late, stop being lazy here.”
Princess Fuqing had no choice but to take the Fourteenth Princess’s hand and bid farewell to Jiang Si.
After the two princesses left, the Empress shook her head with a smile: “Fuqing has been spoiled by me.”
Jiang Si stared at the doorway for a long time without withdrawing her gaze.
Her visit to the palace today wasn’t purely for courtesy. It was because yesterday, Yu Jin mentioned approaching the Empress to vie for the position of Crown Prince, which reminded her of something: in her previous life, Princess Fuqing had died from falling from a high platform, seemingly during the Lantern Festival of this very year.
The Empress noticed Jiang Si’s unusual expression and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Jiang Si hesitated for a moment before asking, “Does the Princess like watching lanterns?”