Chapter 68 The vicious female supporting character has plenty of tricks and power...
Inside the palace where the Empress resided, a eunuch led Zhao Xian and Cui Tingyue to their destination.
Qi An, the head maidservant by the Empress's side, was waiting at the door to greet them, just as last time, and led them into the hall to pay their respects to the Empress.
Zhao Xian and Cui Tingyue: "Your humble servant Zhao (a commoner) greets the Empress, wishing Your Majesty good health and well-being."
The Empress's voice was as gentle as ever, "No need for formalities, please take a seat."
The palace maid placed the stool right next to the empress's chaise lounge.
As soon as Zhao Xian sat down, she could see the Empress's face clearly. When she entered the palace for the Empress Dowager's birthday last time, she noticed that the Empress seemed to be unwell.
It was early morning, the time when the light was strongest, and even though the Empress had applied makeup to cover her face, one could still see that she looked somewhat unwell.
The Empress's gaze lingered on Cui Tingyue for a moment before she said to Zhao Xian, "When you came last time, I didn't get a good look at your adopted daughter. She's quite a beauty."
Then, he looked at Cui Tingyue and asked, "What do you usually like to do at home?"
Upon hearing the Empress's question, Zhao Xian sat up straight, looking as if she were asking the Sixth Prince about choosing a consort.
Cui Tingyue was standing behind Zhao Xian. When she was called upon, she took two steps and knelt down: "Your Majesty, I usually enjoy doing some embroidery."
Zhao Xian glanced at Cui Tingyue: Is this answer really that honest?
“Her embroidery skills are quite good. Your Majesty, look, this is what my daughter Tingyue embroidered. I’ve been reluctant to use it.” Zhao Xian took out a stack of neatly square handkerchiefs from her sleeve and handed them over.
Before Qi An could examine it, the Empress reached out and took it to look at it.
"What a coincidence, I also like this poem, 'Bamboo shadows and poems are slender, plum blossoms enter dreams with fragrance. Alas, the moon tonight is dim in two places.'" The Empress said, gently stroking the embroidery on the handkerchief, and looked at Zhao Xian: "Young lady, you are skillful and clever, to have painted the poem and the picture on the handkerchief."
“She is quiet by nature, loves reading and embroidery. At home, besides helping her sister-in-law with household chores, she spends her free time thinking about these things.” Zhao Xian’s tone was casual, without any hint of deliberate effort. She then smiled and said to Cui Tingyue, “Why don’t you thank Your Highness for the praise?”
Cui Tingyue said obediently, "This humble woman thanks Your Majesty the Empress. When I return home, I will make a double-sided embroidery for Your Majesty. I wonder if Your Majesty has any poems you like? You may write them down, and I will embroider them according to Your Majesty's handwriting."
The Empress handed the handkerchief back to Zhao Xian, saying, "I appreciate this thoughtfulness."
"Get up. Don't be so restrained in front of me. Don't kneel down all the time."
The Empress scrutinized Cui Tingyue for a long while, a hint of hesitation flashing in her eyes. She looked good, but her temperament was so quiet...
Zhao Xian was unsure of what the Empress meant. Her words implied that Cui Tingyue was good at managing the household, and even if the Empress wanted to choose her for the Sixth Prince, Zhao Xian hoped to secure a position as the Empress's principal wife for her.
However, the doubt in the Empress's eyes was caused by something she had said wrong.
Zhao Xian was reflecting on her words, but she didn't think she had said anything wrong.
It's just a normal compliment, right? How could those two short sentences possibly be a landmine?
The Empress looked Cui Tingyue over and instructed the palace maid, "I'll have a word with Madam Jiang. Qi'an, you take the young lady back to the Imperial Garden to play with the other young ladies."
Qi An nodded, "Yes."
Cui Tingyue glanced at Zhao Xian, curtsied to the Empress, and left with the palace maid Qi An.
After paying her respects to the Empress at the Central Palace, Cui Tingyue returned to the Imperial Garden and found that many more ladies and young women had come, and the tables and chairs were almost full.
At a glance, the exquisitely dressed young ladies were more beautiful than the flowers of the day.
After seeing Cui Tingyue off, Qi An returned to the Empress's palace.
"Sister Tingyue? Is it really you? You've come too?" A beautiful girl dressed in a pale yellow dress and wearing a butterfly and flower pearl hair crown called out.
Seeing the noblewoman walking towards her, Cui Tingyue recognized her as the daughter of Xu, the Left Vice Minister of the Court of State Affairs. The two had met at her family reunion banquet last year. "It's Sister Ci'an. You look so beautiful today."
Xu Ci'an smiled shyly at the compliment, but then noticed that Cui Tingyue was alone and asked, "Did you enter the palace alone, sister?"
Cui Tingyue shook her head, "Her Majesty the Empress kept my mother in the inner palace to talk."
Hearing this, Xu Ci'an unconsciously clenched her handkerchief. Thinking that Lord Jiang's official rank was higher than her father's, she pursed her lips and sighed as if to say, "Sister, let's go see the flowers. I found a bleeding heart peony, and it's blooming beautifully."
Cui Tingyue knew some noble ladies, but she had only met them two or three times. Because of her mourning period, it was inconvenient for her to accept invitations to attend their tea parties.
I talked the most with Hsu Tzu-an.
Since it was better to sit alone than to be invited by someone, he readily agreed: "Alright, Sister Ci'an, please lead the way."
Beside the garden, where one side is against the rockery and the other side faces the water, I actually saw a bleeding heart peony. The pink buds hung side by side on the vine, and the stamens hanging down from each bud were like tassels on a purse. They swayed together in the wind.
With a loud thud, a heavy object fell into the water, splashing water everywhere.
Because they were standing not far from the water's edge, the splashing water landed on them.
"Oh..." Xu Ci'an looked at the water stains on her skirt, then looked at Cui Tingyue, whose skirt was even wetter than hers.
Xu Ci'an looked at the restless water and asked, "Is that water splashing from fish jumping up?"
Cui Tingyue shook her head, "No, it seems like..."
"Haha, the fish jumped up."
A burst of clear, crisp laughter interrupted Cui Tingyue's words.
The two looked up and saw that someone had appeared in the pavilion on the artificial hill at some point.
Three girls were peeking out; the one laughing was the one standing in the middle, wiping her hands with a handkerchief as she laughed.
Cui Tingyue didn't recognize the other person. "Why are you throwing stones at us, young lady?"
She turned around the instant the water splashed. The water in the palace was so clear that she could see a fist-sized, round, orange object sinking.
Xu Ci'an looked surprised. "Liu Pan'er, are you crazy? Throwing stones at us, this is murder."
Upon hearing the word 'murder,' the noblewoman who had lost her item panicked for a moment, then immediately retorted, 'What murder? Don't talk nonsense. I just lost a piece of fruit.'
Liu Pan'er stopped looking at Xu Ci'an and stared down at Cui Tingyue, "Miss Cui, right? Jiang Wei is your sworn brother?"
Cui Tingyue nodded: "Yes."
"Go back and ask your sworn brother, what is the reason for not repaying the life-saving grace?"
Cui Tingyue recalled what her adoptive mother had told her on the carriage when she arrived. "My adoptive brother is the best at repaying kindness. I am the best example. How can you say that I don't repay kindness? Miss, please don't speak nonsense and ruin my adoptive brother's reputation."
Lai Liupan'er sneered: "Damage his reputation? The scars on Renlang's arm are still there, that's solid evidence. Do you know how painful it is for a woman to have scars? He kept saying he wanted to marry her, but he forgot about her as soon as he returned to Jin'an."
“Miss Cui, you just said that you are also a benefactor of Young Master Jiang. You have been adopted by the Jiang family as their goddaughter and even have the opportunity to attend a flower-viewing banquet like today. It is unreasonable that Miss Lang, who also owes a debt of gratitude to Young Master Jiang, does not even have the opportunity to enter the Jiang family’s gate and is not given a proper title. Your Jiang family is being far too bullying.”
Xu Ci'an glanced at Cui Tingyue and noticed that she was pursing her lips and had a pale face.
"Sister Tingyue."
As one label after another was slapped on her, Cui Tingyue felt it was all absurd.
Taking a deep breath, Cui Tingyue looked up at the people in the pavilion above: "May I ask what the relationship is between Miss Liu and that Miss Lang?"
Liu Pan'er glanced at her, her eyes narrowing upwards: "It's alright, I just can't stand seeing weak women being bullied like this by you."
Cui Tingyue: "So, Miss Liu only heard one side of the story and concluded that my sworn brother is guilty. If you are so righteous, why don't you take her directly to beat the drum and appeal for justice? According to your statement, my sworn brother deceived her and abandoned her. She has suffered so many injustices, why doesn't she sue him? Instead, you spread rumors everywhere and fool fools to fight for her. Doesn't this further prove that the girl is lying and that she doesn't dare to confront the Jiang family?"
Liu Pan'er glared at her with her almond-shaped eyes: "You dare to insult me."
She suddenly turned back into the pavilion, grabbed something with both hands, and threw it down.
"Sister, be careful." Xu Ci'an said, but Cui Tingyue pulled her away as she did so.
Upon closer inspection, it became clear that what she had thrown down was a tangerine, and it was quite large, about the same size as the one that had already floated to the surface in the water.
Cui Tingyue looked up again, "You hit me with something from the palace! I'm going to report you to the Empress and accuse you of contempt for the palace."
Liu Pan'er chuckled: "Tell me a story? Do you know who I am? Besides, I only threw two fruits. Who saw me hit you?"
She wasn't stupid. Although she disapproved of Jiang Wei's excessive treatment of his benefactor, she only came to warn him, not expecting things to escalate.
Xu Ci'an patted Cui Tingyue's arm and whispered, "She is the Imperial Concubine's niece."
Cui Tingyue released Xu Ci'an, picked up a stone from the ground, and smashed it against her forehead. Her forehead instantly turned red. Holding the stone, she looked up at Liu Pan'er, tears streaming down her face. Her voice was choked with emotion, making people feel sorry for her. "Now, you've hit me."
Everyone: "..."
"You're making baseless accusations; I didn't do it."
Cui Tingyue remained silent, simply watching Liu Pan'er.
The other two noble ladies accompanying Liu Pan'er chickened out first; this adopted daughter of the Jiang family is a bit crazy.
One of them said, "My mother should be looking for me soon, I have to go now."
Another person said, "Me too, wait for me."
"Sigh, you guys..."
Seeing the other two run away, Miss Liu stomped her foot in anger and glared at Cui Tingyue below, "You broke it yourself, so don't blame it on me, or I'll make you regret it."
After saying that, she lifted her skirt and ran away.
Cui Tingyue tossed aside the stone and looked at Xu Ci'an, who was still hiding, "Come out later."
Before Xu Ci'an could ask her what she was doing, Cui Tingyue had already lifted her skirt and climbed the steps.
She walked quickly and disappeared around the corner of the artificial hill in the blink of an eye.
Fearing she might do something foolish, Xu Ci'an hurriedly followed, saying, "Wait for me!"
Cui Tingyue didn't hear the sound behind her and was focused on chasing after them.
I remember when they came over, there was a path more than ten feet long, with a waterside pavilion on one side and dense shade of trees on the other, which provided good concealment.
Cui Tingyue followed and indeed saw the imperial concubine's niece, and she was all alone.
I looked around and saw no one else.
Cui Tingyue quickened her pace and suddenly called out as she approached, "Miss Liu."
Liu Pan'er turned around and saw Cui Tingyue running towards her. Her eyes widened in displeasure. "What, do you really want to come with me to the Empress to complain? Come on, do you think I'm afraid of you? I didn't hit you, huh—"
The sudden throwing of the red silk startled Liu Pan'er, causing her to instinctively step back. She tripped on her skirt, lost her balance, and fell heavily to the ground with a scream.
When I opened my eyes again, I saw many flower petals falling in front of me.
Liu Pan'er was a little confused and looked at Cui Tingyue who was standing there. So, she suddenly ran over not to hit her, but to scatter flowers?
"madman!"
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Author's Note: The villainous female supporting character has redeemed herself and moved on, but she still has the means and strength to back it up, which triggered a conflict. (I'm not feeling well, I'll write the rest tomorrow.)
The lucky draw is tomorrow. Good luck to everyone!
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