Yue Jiang took on the task of distributing scriptures, and the news quickly spread throughout the palace. When Cheng Suyun found out, she was quite pleased and laughed out loud in the Empress Dowager's palace, showing off to Consort Cheng.
“Aunt, last time I wanted to make Yue Jiang back down and listen to the voice of the orphan, so that she would know what it means to become the Crown Princess.”
"In the hearts of the people, she still wants to grovel at the feet of our Cheng family. Who would have thought that His Highness would stop her, and now she has run into him herself."
"Back then, your great-aunt laid the groundwork for you and the Cheng family regarding the orphan. Even the Empress couldn't rival you. She truly doesn't know her place."
Consort Cheng was pleased to be flattered by her niece.
But she was not, after all, the Empress, who was second only to the Emperor. She adjusted her elaborate hair, which was second only to the phoenix crown, and her thick eyebrows and eyes revealed a hint of arrogance.
"That's right. Our Cheng family is the royal family of Jing Kingdom. Besides my aunt, there were several empresses in the past."
"If it weren't for the people from the West Palace causing trouble, I would have been suppressed under my aunt's feet. She wanted to promote her family and bewitch the late emperor to choose a crown princess from her Zheng family."
"The late emperor chose the Ye family, putting himself in a difficult position, which allowed Ye Chuting to benefit from the situation and caused his own niece to become Consort Zheng. If she had been obedient to her aunt and I had been the empress, her niece might have been able to become a Noble Consort."
Back then, Jing Huaixu's father had a very close relationship with Empress Dowager Zheng of the Western Palace, but he only treated his first wife, Empress Dowager Cheng, with respect.
While Jing Huaixu's father was a hostage in the Yu Kingdom, Empress Dowager Cheng guarded the Eastern Palace and served her mother-in-law alone. She had worked hard without any merit, which caused her to fall ill and be unable to have children.
The future successor to the throne of Jing Kingdom fell to Jing Huaixu.
Empress Dowager Zheng and Empress Dowager Cheng were mortal enemies. Empress Dowager Cheng had served her parents-in-law, so even if she could not have an heir, Empress Dowager Zheng could not replace her even if she gave birth to a crown prince.
Empress Dowager Zheng resented Empress Dowager Cheng for blocking her position, and she could not allow her own son to marry a member of Empress Dowager Cheng's family. So she suggested to the late emperor that Jing Huaixu marry a girl from the Zheng family.
However, the Cheng family was at the height of its power at the time, and it was impossible for them to easily abandon their daughter.
The late emperor compromised by not offending anyone and arranged for Jing Huaixu to marry Empress Ye, the daughter of the emperor's tutor, catching everyone off guard.
Consort Cheng was furious just thinking about it, and her words became increasingly outrageous, even going so far as to call out Empress Ye's full name.
Empress Dowager Cheng fiddled with her prayer beads, chanting incessantly until she finished reciting the entire Buddhist scripture, at which point she ceased her chanting.
When she opened her eyes and raised her hand, Cheng Suyun tactfully helped her up. After sitting down at the table, she gave Consort Cheng a stern look.
"Your mouth is only fit to be a royal concubine."
Consort Cheng paused, her expression a mixture of disdain and resentment, and said dejectedly, "Isn't that right? It's only natural that our Cheng family produces an empress. It's utterly shameful for me to become a consort."
"Why did Father go to Anguo that time? If he hadn't gone," she said fiercely, her beautiful eyes widening.
“My father was the backbone of Jing Kingdom at that time. By keeping the son and removing the mother, Aunt, you no longer need to share the Empress Dowager’s wealth with them. It also caused our Cheng family to lose all our money.”
"It's fate!" Empress Dowager Cheng, unusually, did not refute Consort Cheng's words, and shook her head slightly.
She recalled the desperate strategy of burning her boats back then, using their shared experiences to exploit the Cheng family's accumulated wealth and ruined orphans, which earned their unwavering loyalty.
The money given to the orphans over the years came from the palace. Regardless of whether the Cheng family's name was on the document, the orphans considered it a favor from the Cheng family.
Empress Dowager Cheng believed her move was brilliant and unbeatable, so she regained her earlier gloomy expression and opened her heart to Consort Cheng and Cheng Suyun.
"It is my deepest regret that Your Majesty did not grant the position of Empress to Wan'er. I had placed all my hopes for Jingyan to become the Crown Princess on Suyun, but unfortunately, the Princess of the Moon Kingdom has arrived."
"The Cheng family is about to miss out on another empress position, but how can they tolerate it every time? So what if she is a princess of Yue Kingdom? She has to follow the rules of Jing Kingdom after marrying into it."
"A girl who doesn't know her place, why not just be a puppet that can be easily manipulated? She hasn't even entered the Crown Prince's Palace yet, but she's already meddling in palace affairs. Just wait and see what happens."
“Grandmother, you are right,” Cheng Suyun said, her mind becoming increasingly unsettled after hearing the Empress Dowager’s resolute words.
Empress Dowager Cheng, hearing Cheng Suyun's smug words, turned to urge her: "Don't just think about good things first. You should also copy the scriptures for the orphans. That way you will be more able to move them. Don't be so short-sighted."
“Look at your aunt. So what if she is a Noble Consort? In terms of virtue, she is not as good as Empress Ye. In terms of pleasing people, she is not as good as Consort Zheng. His Majesty only feels guilty towards her because of the national crisis.”
“Those two each have a son and a daughter, while she only has one son. If she had a princess, she wouldn’t have to worry about not being able to build connections with her.”
Consort Cheng, seeing herself being constantly ridiculed by the younger generation, and having developed an even more arrogant temperament over the years, turned her face away in annoyance.
“Aunt, you can say a few words, Suyun is listening! I also have my pride. Besides, what’s the point of copying scriptures? Those orphans don’t know Suyun’s writing. It’s a waste of energy to write them.”
“I used to hate standing in the middle of a crowd distributing scriptures. The stench of sweat gave me a headache, and I had to put on a smiling face. When I got back, I had to scrub my skin raw to get rid of the sweat smell.”
When Consort Cheng said these words, Cheng Suyun immediately pictured the scene of her distributing the scriptures.
She felt the same disgust for the filthy old and young, and the jarring noise. She frowned and glanced at Empress Dowager Cheng, feeling a sense of shared misery.
“My dear aunt, I feel the same way you do.”
Empress Dowager Cheng saw that no one listened to her good intentions, and instead the aunt and niece went off to huddle together in grievance, so she gave them a cold look.
"How can you two accomplish anything great? How many more years can I live to plan for you?"
When Consort Cheng's father died during the Anguo Rebellion, she was just a child, and she was the only daughter of the eldest branch of the Cheng family.
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