Chapter 347 The Emperor
Seeing Jiang Mi's confused expression, the Empress Dowager explained to her, "It means that you will be supplying goods exclusively to the royal family from now on. I really like the soaps you make, but don't worry, it won't interfere with your business with ordinary people."
This was the purpose of Jiang Mi's visit today. She was very happy that the Empress Dowager had brought it up herself, but she remained calm on the surface.
"But I've never done anything like this before. I'm afraid I won't do it well and will upset the nobles in the palace. Besides, these things in the palace have always been Manager Liu's job. If I take over his work again, he'll probably hate me to death."
When the Empress Dowager heard Jiang Mi say this, she felt sorry for the girl. After all, it was not easy for a girl to have achieved what she had, yet she was still being bullied by a group of men.
"Good child, don't worry. If you become a royal merchant in the future, you will naturally be protected by the royal family. No one will dare to touch you easily then."
Hearing this, Jiang Mi felt much more at ease. Putting everything else aside, at least the Empress Dowager would protect her. As long as it didn't involve the interests of the Empress Dowager or the royal family, she should be willing to help her.
"Really? No one will dare to bully me anymore? Thank you for your protection, Empress Dowager." Although Jiang Mi wasn't afraid of bad people, having a backer was better than having none. After all, Manager Liu had Consort Jing as his backer. Now that she had found the Empress Dowager, she was even more powerful than Consort Jing. Even if that Liu guy wanted to cause her trouble again, he would have to think twice.
The Empress Dowager was very happy. Just then, the Emperor came to pay his respects. The Empress Dowager did not allow Jiang Mi to avoid him, as she also wanted to introduce Jiang Mi to the Emperor.
"Your Majesty, I pay my respects to you."
After the Emperor performed his salutations, everyone knelt before him until he rose and sat down next to the Empress Dowager, at which point everyone was allowed to stand up.
Jiang Mi stood up and did not sit down again. The Empress Dowager had just given her a seat, and now that the Emperor was present, she could not be so rude.
"Your Majesty, I have been busy with many matters lately and have not been able to visit you for several days. How has Your Majesty been doing lately?"
The Empress Dowager snorted coldly: "You have no time to visit me, but you have time to run to Consort Jing's place. Your son is grown up, and his mother can't control him anymore. But you should also focus your attention elsewhere. At least spend a few more days with the Empress. After all, she is your wife."
The Emperor would agree to whatever the Empress Dowager said, but whether he actually did it was another matter.
The Emperor glanced around and then noticed a stranger. This woman was so beautiful that he was momentarily flustered when he saw her, something he hadn't felt when he first met Consort Jing.
"Your Majesty...Your Majesty?" The Empress Dowager called the Emperor several times before finally bringing him back to his senses. "I've called you so many times already, it seems your mind is indeed not on me. You should go about your own business."
The Emperor ignored the Empress Dowager's words and instead pointed at Jiang Mi, asking, "Whose daughter is this? I don't think I've seen her before."
The Empress Dowager spat at him, saying, "You've seen many young ladies, but you've seen even fewer like this. This is the first time I've ever seen one. The twin top scholars you took a fancy to before are her two older brothers."
The Emperor suddenly realized: "So that's how it is. No wonder she looked so familiar to me. She's Minister Jiang's sister. People from your Jiang family are all very good-looking."
When the Empress Dowager heard someone praising Jiang Mi, she was very pleased, as if she were praising her own child: "Of course, this child is not only beautiful, but also talented. The soap that we have been using in the palace is made by her."
"Oh?" The Emperor immediately connected the dots with Jiang Mi. Wasn't this the extraordinary woman Huo Ran had mentioned? No wonder Huo Ran kept talking about her and saying he would marry no one but her. It seemed she really had the ability to win him over. No wonder Huo Ran was so infatuated with her, and even the prince himself couldn't resist her charms.
"Very well, since that's the case, then the peach blossom wine was also brewed by you?"
Jiang Mi glanced at the Empress Dowager before answering the Emperor's question.
This small detail pleased the Empress Dowager greatly, which shows that Jiang Mi trusted her a lot, which is why she checked her expression first.
“Your Majesty, those wines were indeed brewed by me. However, I now own a winery and rarely visit it anymore.”
The Emperor nodded, his eyes filled with admiration as he looked at Jiang Mi, unable to look away.
The Empress Dowager was unaware of this and asked curiously, "What kind of wine? Is Miss Jiang also brewing wine?"
The Emperor smiled and said, "I brought this wine especially for the Empress Dowager. You can try it too. It is very mellow and fragrant, but you are getting old now, so you should drink less."
The Empress Dowager was already feeling ecstatic just from the smell. She smiled broadly and said, "This is truly wonderful. No wonder the Emperor has been drinking so much lately. I've heard that many of the concubines have also been drinking recently. I was originally going to discipline them, but I didn't expect this wine to be so fragrant. Even I, who don't like drinking, can't resist it."
The Empress Dowager looked at Jiang Mi and smiled, "How do you know so much? What other surprises do you have that I don't know?"
Jiang Mi stuck out her tongue, looking particularly mischievous: "That's all, just these two things. It's already quite difficult to do them as well as I can. I don't have the time or energy to be distracted."
"Very good. You are still a girl, and your behavior is something that many men cannot match."
Listening to the Emperor's effusive praise of Jiang Mi, the Empress Dowager seized the opportunity to say, "Since the Emperor likes her things so much, why not bestow upon her the title of Imperial Merchant, and have her exclusively supply the palace with tributes? Wouldn't that be better?"
The Emperor seemed to be thinking of Consort Jing. The soapberries that are currently being presented to the palace by her distant relatives are just a distant relative. However, people in the palace no longer like to use soapberries, so even if they are presented as tribute, they are all wasted. It would be better to replace them.
The Empress Dowager then took out the soap that Jiang Mi had just made for her and began to praise it to the Emperor: "Look, this is the soap that I asked her to make especially for me. I am extremely satisfied with it. If a batch is sent regularly, I won't have to worry about having to snatch soap anymore."
Hearing the Empress Dowager speak like this, the Emperor had no choice but to relent: "Previously, it was Consort Jing's distant relative who was in charge. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to suddenly kick her out?"
The Empress Dowager knew that the Emperor would hesitate because of Consort Jing. Upon hearing Consort Jing's name, her expression turned displeased: "All you know is your Consort Jing."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
