Chapter 402: Chapter 400 She Doesn’t Want to Be Involved with Lu Ying Anymore
Shen Yinning stepped out of Chunxi Palace, intending to return directly to Furong Palace, but was stopped by a stewardess. "The Princess has not entered the palace for a long time. Her Majesty the Empress Dowager misses you greatly. Since you’re here today, how can you not go to pay your respects to the Empress Dowager?"
It was a stewardess from Cining Palace.
Shen Yinning was not surprised.
She had fallen out with Empress Dowager Li, and now that she set foot on her territory again, what was inevitable could not be avoided.
When she arrived at Cining Palace, Empress Dowager Li had just finished her evening meal and was reclining against a brocade cushion of embroidered blue satin, her eyes closed as palace attendants tended to her grooming and cleansing.
The palace attendants noticed Shen Yinning enter and immediately stepped aside, leaving the duty of attending to the Empress Dowager to her.
Shen Yinning wrung out a towel from the basin and carefully wiped Empress Dowager Li’s hands dry. She then accepted an enamel porcelain makeup box handed to her by a palace maid, scooped out a spoonful of pearl balm with a silver spoon, warmed it in her palms, and gently massaged it onto the back of the Empress Dowager’s hands in circular motions.
Empress Dowager Li slowly opened her eyes.
She glanced at Shen Yinning, a faint smile gracing her lips. "In the past, Zhaozhao left with such an air of arrogance. Did you expect that today you would bow your head and humble yourself before me once again?"
Shen Yinning’s expression remained unchanged, and she continued to massage calmly.
Victory and defeat—an eternal truth.
But no one in this world wins forever.
There was no shame in losing; the shame lay in losing the courage to start over again.
She spoke gently, "Your Majesty embodies the grace of the entire realm. Naturally, it is only proper for a junior like me to bow my head in your presence. In truth, I had long desired to enter the palace to serve you, but matters at the mansion have kept me tied down, unable to free myself."
"Hmph, with Shangguan Min managing the Cui Mansion, does it really fall upon a concubine like you to toil over such matters?"
"Oh, but you jest. Even nurturing a child in the womb is no small effort."
Empress Dowager Li cast a glance at Shen Yinning’s belly.
The girl’s waist was slender, her attire loose, for now masking any signs of pregnancy.
She let out a cold laugh. "In the past, I intended to raise your status so you could serve Jingwei, hoping you’d bear him offspring sooner. Yet not only did you refuse, but you turned instead to conceive the child of some low-born scholar. The palace calls you, Shen Zhaozhao, a woman of ice and snow-like intelligence, so why are you so muddled when it comes to children? Do you think you’re merely pregnant? You’re securing your lifeline for the latter half of your life!"
Shen Yinning lowered her gaze and smiled.
The Capital was a twisted web of hearts and minds; she was ever more certain that withholding the name of her child’s father—Lu Ying—had been the right decision.
Feigning helplessness, she curtsied slightly and said softly, "Zhaozhao, in her youth, cannot match Your Majesty’s far-reaching foresight. For mere transient joy, I’ve made an irreversible mistake. But what’s done is done; regrets are of no avail. Your Majesty, perhaps it’s simply fate that destined me and His Majesty to have no future together."
Empress Dowager Li took the bixi Buddha beads handed to her by a palace maid.
As she absentmindedly thumbed the beads, she remarked, "You are, after all, the legitimate granddaughter of Madam Ci. Even if you show me disrespect, as an elder, I will not stoop to settle scores with you. Zhaozhao, do you understand? To men, whether a woman is a virgin or has an untarnished lineage matters little in the face of absolute infatuation. Men are not like women; most of them are far shallower when it comes to matters of sex and love. If you can evoke their desire to conquer, or make them believe ’this is destiny’s chosen love,’ then even if you’ve been someone’s concubine or a mother, they’ll willingly go through fire and water for you, surrendering everything. And we women? What we want is everything they offer up."
Shen Yinning seated herself on the embroidered stool a maid had brought over.
While she agreed with Empress Dowager Li’s perspective, she no longer wished for any entanglement with Lu Ying.
Once, she had climbed and clawed to gain his love.
But though he had known she craved the status of Empress, he had refused to answer her longing.
Shen Zhaozhao was not one to linger long on a lost cause; she wouldn’t waste further time and energy on that accursed man.
All she sought now was revenge.
Empress Dowager Li glanced at her again. "Throughout history, there have been women who married and bore children outside the palace, yet still entered later to become Empresses, presiding over the realm. If others can achieve this, why can’t you? Zhaozhao, no matter how bright Cui Ji’s prospects are, how could they compare with the Emperor? Since fate set us in this walled city and endowed you with such beauty, you must strive, fight, and seize what you can. Only then will you be worthy of heaven’s gifts."
Shen Yinning understood Empress Dowager Li’s intentions now.
She hadn’t given up on using her as a pawn.
It must be that Li Zhu was failing to assert her position within Lu Ying’s harem as even a concubine.
Twiddling her fan, Shen Yinning spoke candidly, "Your Majesty’s roundabout words—this is for Li Zhu, for the Li Family."
Empress Dowager Li neither confirmed nor denied the statement.
"If Your Majesty wishes for Miss Li Zhu to receive favor, the matter is actually quite simple."
"You have a solution?"
"Yes. But I also have demands of my own."
Leaving the Empress Dowager’s quarters, Shen Yinning ran into Li Zhu.
Her gaze swept over the girl. The young woman was undeniably beautiful, yet she still failed to win Lu Ying’s favor.
Li Zhu gave a slight curtsey, saying, "Who would have thought I’d live to see the Princess again? I had assumed the Princess would never have the face to appear before us again."
"And why should I not?"
"You, a noble Commandery Princess, once the eldest young lady of the Shen Guogong Mansion, stooped to become someone’s concubine. Do you find glory in that?"
Shen Yinning chuckled lightly. "Miss Li Zhu, if you have such spare time to worry about my marital affairs, why not invest it in your own? At fourteen or fifteen, daughters of other families are engaged. And here you are, at twenty, still hanging around the palace. Aren’t you ashamed?"
Li Zhu’s face turned crimson. "You—"
Before she could muster a retort, Shen Yinning had already walked away.
Outside Cining Palace, Haitang asked curiously, "Princess, are you really going to help Miss Li Zhu gain the Emperor’s favor?"
"Do you think it’s a blessing to become one of Lu Ying’s concubines?" Shen Yinning replied indifferently. "The Empress Dowager has grown senile—neglecting to urge the younger generation in her family to study and achieve scholarly success, she instead hangs her hopes on the Empress’s throne. Indeed, it would be excellent for the family to produce an Empress. But if there are no capable men in the family, even ten Empresses won’t turn the tide. Instead, it would only invite suspicion from the Imperial Family."
Haitang pondered for a moment, her eyes widening slightly. "I’ve read while serving the Princess that the most envied overambitious clans can often become suspect. Then what of the Huo Family—"
Shen Yinning shot her a warning look.
The Huo Family differed from the Li Family.
The Huo Family, commanding an army, had established power outside the border over many years.
If Lu Ying were an ungrateful person, perhaps one day he might use the Huo Family as a sacrificial pawn.
But such matters were not ones a maid like Haitang should be discussing lightly.
Haitang quickly fell silent, following Shen Yinning back toward Furong Palace.
The news that Shen Yinning had visited Chunxi Palace and then Cining Palace swiftly reached Huo Mingyan, delivered by palace maids in the dead of night.
Hearing how the Shen sisters and Li Zhu had fallen into her hands and suffered, Huo Mingxu couldn’t help but collapse onto the Imperial Concubine Couch, laughing heartily.
Huo Mingyan, practicing her calligraphy, looked up and tossed a brush at him. "This is the Imperial Palace! Can’t you at least maintain some decorum?"
Huo Mingxu sat upright, complaining, "Sister, those noble heirs disdain me for being from outside the border and refuse to befriend me. Now even you are scolding me! I just find this Princess Zhaoning quite intriguing, that’s all, and couldn’t hold in a laugh!"