Chapter 396: Scheming Against Feng Yili
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The Empress Dowager was already in a bad mood, to begin with. When she heard the palace maid’s words, her expression darkened even more.
“What? The King of Youshan? He’s just a vassal king with no blood relations to the imperial family! How dare he be so presumptuous and not pay his respects to me?!”
‘That b*tch, Yu Yunxi, dares to be arrogant because she has the Emperor Emeritus protecting her. What right does the King of Youshan have to behave in such a way?’
“Summon him here!” the Empress Dowager said in a shrill voice.
The palace maid was so frightened that she ran to the carriage of the King of Youshan’s Residence.
Not long after, the sounds of footsteps rang from outside the Empress Dowager’s carriage. She assumed it was Feng Yili and was prepared to humiliate him. Unexpectedly, when the curtain was pulled to the side, she only saw her palace maid kneeling on the ground.
The Empress Dowager suppressed her anger and asked, “Where’s the King of Youshan?”
The palace maid felt as though she was putting her life on the line as she said, “E-empress Dowager, the King of Youshan said the little prince is hungry. He, he said that he’s feeding the little prince so he can’t come and greet you…”
The palace lamented her luck. Earlier, she had to face the King of Youshan’s murderous aura, and now, she had to face the Empress Dowager’s wrath.
“Little prince? What little prince? Oh, I remember now. Previously, the Emperor wanted to bestow marriage to him and the Sixth Princess. Who knew that he wouldn’t know what was good for him and rejected the marriage, saying he already has a wife and a child? Hmph, this is to be expected. After all, he’s just a fake king. It’s reasonable that he doesn’t know the rules,” the
Empress Dowager said in disgust. Although she disliked Consort Mu and Chu Zhihe, it did not mean she could tolerate Feng Yili looking down on Chu Zhihe. After all, Chu Zhihe was a member of the imperial family.
The Empress Dowager said gloomily, “Bring the guards with you. Even if they have to use force, they have to bring him here.”
At this moment, a woman holding a child in the corner of the carriage, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly said, “Aunt, you can’t do that.”
The woman was Du Wenxin, the Empress Dowager’s niece. She was also the legitimate daughter of the Du family.
The Du family had gradually declined over the years. If it was not for the Empress Dowager, it would have long been devoured by the other noble families in the capital.
Due to the decline, in order to stabilize the family’s status, the Empress
Dowager hurriedly let Du Wenxin, her niece, marry into the imperial family.
Alas, Du Wenxin disappointed her and only gave birth to a son a few years ago and was only promoted to Consort Xin then. Du Wenxin’s son was the Twelfth Prince, which meant that he was far from being able to compete for the position of Crown Prince. After all, there were so many princes ahead of him.
Nonetheless, the Empress Dowager still liked Du Wenxin the most among so many consorts. It was not only because Du Wenxin was from the Du family, but it was also because Du Wenxin was smart but was very malleable. “Aunt,” Du Wenxin called again as she glanced at the palace maid.
The Empress Dowager said unhappily, “Alright, retreat.”
“Yes, Empress Dowager.”
When silence returned to the carriage, the Empress Dowager held Du Wenxin’s hand and said kindly, “Wenxin, tell me why you stopped me from punishing the King of Youshan?”
Du Wenxin lowered her head and whispered, “Aunt, the King of Youshan is a very good helper. Over the years, his fiefdom, Yuzhou, has grown so powerful that the Emperor can’t easily make a move. That’s also why the Emperor has to tolerate the King of Youshan. The King of Youshan has been in the capital for a while now, but none of the princes has gone to stir up trouble for him. In my opinion, they’re all trying to pull him to their sides.”
“Wenxin, you mean…
“Little Twelfth is only eight years old this year. The Du family is declining and doesn’t have a strong influence in the imperial court. As such, no one supports us. However, the King of Youshan has great power in Yuzhou. If he supports Little Twelfth, I’m sure many ministers will follow in his footsteps,” Du Wenxin slowly said.
After listening to Du Wenxin, the Empress Dowager said, disagreeing with the former, “Indeed, the King of Youshan is powerful and capable, but the Emperor is suspicious of him and dislikes him. He might lose his life one day. If we pull him to our side, we’ll be implicated if something happens to him in the future…
Du Wenxin looked up and said, “But, Aunt, this is a golden opportunity. If we don’t pull him to our side then Little Twelfth really doesn’t have a chance at all…
Du Wenxin’s eyes, which were normally calm, shone with greed and ambition at this moment.
The Empress Dowager narrowed her eyes as she stared at Du Wenxin and thought to herself, ‘She’s right. With Little Twelfth’s situation, if we don’t take a chance, we’ll definitely lose, and the Du family won’t be able to make a comeback…’
Du Wenxin continued to say seriously, “Aunt, you’re the Empress Dowager. If anything happens, the Emperor won’t do anything to you. However, if we don’t take this risk, then our Du family will really have no fate with the throne at all.”
The Empress Dowager pursed her lips as her mind continued to spin. She was a power-hungry person. Although she was the Emperor’s mother, their relationship was not very deep, and the Emperor was unwilling to help the Du family. As such, she could only place her hopes on her grandson.
‘Perhaps this is really a golden opportunity…’
After a moment, the Empress Dowager frowned and said unhappily, “However, didn’t you see it earlier? The King of Youshan didn’t even listen to my orders. He’s so arrogant. How can he be willing to help Little Twelfth?”
Du Wenxin chuckled and said, “Since ancient times, men have never been able to resist beautiful women. Look. Didn’t His Majesty allow the Mu family and
Hong family to soar so high all these years because of Consort Mu and Consort
Hong’s foxy appearances?”
Nearing the end of her words, Du Wenxin’s eyes flashed with resentment. Her appearance was ordinary, to begin with. If it were not for the Empress Dowager, with her look, it would have been impossible for her to marry into the imperial family in this lifetime. After she married the Emperor, she failed to capture the Emperor’s heart. On the contrary, Consort Mu and Consort Hong were able to make the Emperor feel distressed with just a frown on their face.
“What exactly are you trying to say?” the Empress Dowager asked unhappily. When Du Wenxin mentioned ‘beautiful women’, the face that had shaken the capital many years ago appeared in her mind.
‘Although that b*tch is dead, she’s still an unshakeable existence in many people’s hearts…’
Du Wenxin hid her resentment and asked, “Aunt, have you forgotten that our
Du family also has a beautiful woman?”
The Empress Dowager instantly knew who Du Wenxin was referring to. Indeed, there was a beautiful unmarried woman in the Du family.
“You’re talking about Du Yueshan?”
Du Yueshan’s beauty was one that could destroy a city. If it was not for the fact that she was the daughter of a concubine, she would have a very good marriage.
The Empress Dowager continued to say unhappily, “Her status is too low. A few years ago, I wanted her to enter the palace to help you hook the Emperor’s heart, but you disagreed. Why are you mentioning her now?”
Du Wenxin lowered her head and said in a muffled voice, “Aunt, Du Yueshan’s mother came from a brothel. The mother and daughter only know how to use shameless methods to seduce men. If she’d entered the palace and gotten pregnant, would Little Twelfth have any status at all?”
Without waiting for the Empress Dowager’s response, Du Wenxin continued to say, “It won’t do us much good if she enters the palace, but it’ll definitely be advantageous to us and the Du family if she marries the King of Youshan?” Realization dawned on the Empress Dowager. She asked, “So you want Du
Yueshan to use her means to seduce the King of Youshan?”
“That’s right. If Du Yueshan successfully lures the King of Youshan into the beauty trap, won’t he be at our mercy?” Du Wenxin said confidently, “I heard that the King of Youshan already has a wife. However, since ancient times, men have always had countless consorts and concubines. So what if the King of Youshan loves his wife now? They’re not together now, and their relationship will inevitably deteriorate. This is an opportunity for Du Yueshan.. No man can reject such a beauty…”
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