Chapter 1102 - Chapter 1102 Who Chose the Decorative Border?
Chapter 1102 Who Chose the Decorative Border?
The Empress Dowager was in the large tent in the middle, and some people with high status originally in the two tents on each side also came over. Some princesses and imperial consorts of high distinction stayed beside the Empress Dowager, chatting with her. From time to time, the Empress Dowager smiled as she heard something particularly funny from a few of them.
Some Madams sent a few gifts over. After the Empress Dowager viewed the gifts, they withdrew from the tent.
In a hurry, Nanny Gao came in from the outside and whispered something in the Empress Dowager’s ear. Then, the Empress Dowager nodded with a smile and said, “Let Princess Chen in!”
Nanny Gao nodded and walked out. Some with sharp ears heard the Empress Dowager’s words and couldn’t help winking at those they knew well. “Is Princess Chen here to deliver the gift in person?”
The assassination of Princess Chen caused a mighty uproar. Everyone knew that some people wanted to destroy Princess Chen and even used the crossbow in the army. But when others heard that Princess Chen had survived the unexpected disaster, they sighed with emotion, saying that Princess Chen was fortunate enough to stay alive in such a violent scene.
No one had seen Princess Chen since she was shot. It was said that she had been in poor physical condition. But now, she could get up. It seemed that her injury was not as severe as they had imagined.
She was indeed a blessed woman!
Shao Wanru came in with the support of Yujie’s hand. With her injured arm hanging down, she put the other fine one on Yujie’s hand to prop herself up. She plodded forward slowly with a pale face as if she would pass out at any time.
“Anyone? Go and help Princess Chen!” the Empress Dowager ordered.
Immediately, a palace maid walked over and supported Shao Wanru with extreme caution, not daring to touch Shao Wanru’s wounded arm hanging aside.
“Greetings, Imperial Grandmother!” Eventually, Shao Wanru stepped up to the Empress Dowager, gasping for breath. Though it was a short distance, dizziness overcame her, blurring her vision, and her fair and delicate forehead was dripping sweat. At first glance, the others knew she could not hold on anymore.
“You have suffered terrible injuries, but you insisted on coming. Hurry up and help Princess Chen sit down,” ordered the Empress Dowager. A eunuch had set up a chair between the Empress Dowager and Rui’an Great Elder Princess.
Yujie and the palace maid helped Shao Wanru to sit down.
Rui’an Great Elder Princess shot out her hand to support Shao Wanru, observing her face anxiously. When she checked on Shao Wanru before, her face looked pale and bloodless, but now her face was drenched with sweat — she must have taken a lot of effort to come over. Her miserable condition made Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s heart ache, and she stretched out her handkerchief to wipe the sweat on Shao Wanru’s face.
“Look at you… You’re so seriously injured, but… you insisted on presenting your gift to Her Majesty.” Rui’an Great Elder Princess choked with sobs and gnashed her teeth, trying hard to suppress the bitterness in her heart.
This was the first time the Empress Dowager had seen Shao Wanru after she was injured. At this time, she couldn’t help but be stunned. She had asked Nanny Gao to send medicinal materials to Shao Wanru several times. Nanny Gao reported that Princess Chen was okay and only needed to recuperate each time. However, Shao Wanru looked much more badly hurt than Nanny Gao had described. She couldn’t help looking at Nanny Gao with a frown.
There was a trace of displeasure in her eyes.
“Grandma, this is a token of the regard of Prince Chen and me… How can I let someone else demonstrate it for me?” Shao Wanru said softly with a happy smile. She turned to look at the Empress Dowager and said, “Imperial Grandmother, please don’t blame me for being late!”
“You… little girl… It is so considerate of you to do that! If you are not in good health, you should go back and rest early. Don’t worry about anything else. I’ll be there for you!” Her face was drained of color, and her forced smile looked slightly unnatural. Yet, the Empress Dowager could see she was struggling hard to do well on her birthday. The Empress Dowager couldn’t help feeling sorry for her, thinking that Shao Wanru was so genuine and sincere that she came to send her gift in person even at this time. Merely for her filial heart and Chen’er’s goodwill, the Empress Dowager was willing to protect Shao Wanru.
“Imperial Grandmother, after presenting my gift, I’ll have to apologize and return home,” Shao Wanru said and nodded to Yujie, who had been waiting aside. Yujie went out and came back with a brocade box in her hands after a while.
She placed the large brocade box in the center of the table and took out a table screen from it. Many people widened their eyes in surprise as soon as they saw the gift.
They were astonished, not because of its exquisite embroidery but because of the gorgeous and long trimming added under the table screen. They didn’t go together. Or, more specifically, this frill didn’t match the table screen at all. This pair was simply offensive to the eye.
For a moment, Nanny Wei was slightly taken aback and looked at the table screen in astonishment, blinking her eyes in disbelief. “Is… Is this the piece I’ve praised and recommended? Anyone with eyes could tell that they were ill-matched. Was Princess Chen blind to see it?
“Even if she couldn’t see that the decorative border was not suited to the table screen, were all the people around her blind?
“The trimming doesn’t go with the elegant table screen at all, whichever way I look at it: its color, pattern, or material. How could Princess Chen really send it to the Empress Dowager?”
Nanny Wei’s heart jolted, and she inexplicably had a bad feeling. “What does Princess Chen want to do?”
The imperial consorts around the Empress Dowager began to whisper, glancing sideways at Shao Wanru. So, this was the gift that Princess Chen carefully selected for the Empress Dowager regardless of her poor health?
Judging from Shao Wanru’s bloodless face, they could tell that she was serious and was not joking, but the match was too ridiculous.
The Empress Dowager was also stunned and looked at the table screen in astonishment.
“Imperial Grandmother, I embroidered this screen and drew the painting myself. May your fortune be as boundless as the sea, and may you live a long and happy life,” Shao Wanru said in a low voice. Everyone could see that she was weak from her illness at this time, but she still forced a smile. Seeing her like this, Rui’an Great Elder Princess felt her stomach knot.
“This child has been injured so badly, but she insists on sending her gift in person. Why is she so stubborn?”
Rui’an Great Elder Princess could be said to be the only one who ignored the table screen. She had been nervously watching Shao Wanru — Once Shao Wanru had any problem, she could deal with it immediately.
As for what birthday gift she had prepared, Rui’an Great Elder Princess didn’t think it was important.
“Thank you… for your effort!” At this time, the Empress Dowager couldn’t bear to blame Shao Wanru and only felt tender and protective toward her. She reached out and patted Shao Wanru’s hand gently. “Go back and have a good rest. When Prince Chen comes back and sees you like this, he will blame me for not taking good care of you! ”
“Thank you, Imperial Grandmother. I know.” Shao Wanru said. She raised her eyes with gratitude to Nanny Wei. “I had no idea about your preferences. Fortunately, Nanny Wei told me this frill was good, so I decorated the table screen according to your taste.”
As soon as she said that, Nanny Wei’s face changed drastically. She looked at Shao Wanru in horror. It had never occurred to her that Shao Wanru would send this gift and tell her ill-intentioned suggestion to the Empress Dowager in public.
If Princess Chen wasn’t injured, Nanny Wei could say anything against her as she wanted. She could even instigate the Empress Dowager to choose consorts for Prince Chen. Also, she could tell the Empress Dowager in private that Shao Wanru was not fit to be Princess Chen because she couldn’t even choose a proper gift. With these tricks, she could make the Empress Dowager loathe Princess Chen.
But now, her words against Princess Chen might bring disaster to her. The Empress Dowager took pity on Princess Chen, who had suffered terrible injuries. Moreover, she struggled to come over just to give the birthday gift to the Empress Dowager in person. The Empress Dowager would say she liked her gift, no matter how unattractive it was.
Princess Chen came with sincerity to celebrate the Empress Dowager’s birthday when she was so severely injured. Anyway, in this situation, no one would believe her slanderous talk.
“Your Majesty, I didn’t say that!” After Nanny Wei thought carefully about it in her heart, her legs went weak, and she couldn’t help kneeling. “Did Her Highness misunderstand me?”
“I… I made a mistake?” Shao Wanru was a little confused. She swayed and almost fell down. Rui’an Great Elder Princess hurriedly held out her hand to steady Shao Wanru and said impatiently, “It doesn’t matter if you got it wrong. You’re seriously ill. It’s no big deal if you have misheard. Her Majesty won’t blame you for that!”
“What is this all about?” The Empress Dowager asked, looking at Nanny Wei with a gloomy face.
“Your Majesty, when I went to deliver your message to Princess Chen that day, she was choosing the trimming for the table screen. The piece I happened to see was this one. Princess Chen tried it and asked me how it was going with the screen. At that time, she was in high spirits. Since Princess Chen was a noble master, as a servant, I mustn’t put a dampener on her, so I said it was not bad. Maybe Princess Chen misunderstood me because of this. It was my fault. Please punish me, Your Majesty!”
Nanny Wei reacted very quickly. As the cause and effect of this matter flashed in her mind, she got a reason to explain.
Anyway, that was what she had said. Could Princess Chen give other evidence?
Shao Wanru rose to her feet by holding Rui’an Great Elder Princess’s hands and was on the verge of collapse. Others were deeply alarmed for fear that she would pass out any time if she couldn’t hold on any longer. “Imperial Grandmother, I… I must have made a mistake. If you don’t like it, I’ll pick up another one and send it over!”
She said nothing to defend herself. Because she exerted too much strength, she broke out in a cold sweat on her forehead. The few imperial consorts nearby could see that. Nanny Wei gave a justifiable explanation while Princess Chen almost admitted her mistake. But looking at her fragile look, others began thinking carefully about Nanny Wei’s words and her cool composure. Many inexplicably felt Nanny Wei had deliberately schemed to embarrass Princess Chen.
Uncontrollably, they looked at Nanny Wei with alert.
If any of them came across the same thing, they might be fooled like Princess Chen. After all, Nanny Wei said this as the Empress Dowager’s personal Nanny, a trusted servant.
Needless to say, Nanny Wei was up to no good and had deliberately set up Princess Chen.
“I like it. How could I not like it? Go back and rest first. We’ll talk about it later. I’ll grant you a reward later!” The Empress Dowager said gently and waved her hand to motion Nanny Wei to get up.
Then she asked someone to send Shao Wanru back because it seemed she couldn’t hold on any longer. Seeing the Empress Dowager beaming with delight, Shao Wanru was relieved and left to rest in the tent nearby. After getting some rest, she would ask someone to help her get into a soft sedan chair and return to the Prince Chen’s Mansion from the side door.
This matter seemed to be over: Nanny Wei was right, Princess Chen gave the proper gift, and the Empress Dowager liked this style of table screen.
The table screen was put away, but Nanny Wei, standing behind the Empress Dowager, broke out in a cold sweat on her back…
This matter was not over…