Chapter 1312 - 1312 Keep a Low Profile and Be Obedient
Chapter 1312 Keep a Low Profile and Be Obedient
Shui Ruolan followed the Nanny who led the way ahead and felt uneasy. Since she came to the capital, she occasionally associated with some Madams from aristocratic families. She would not attend their parties unless it was necessary.
On the one hand, she always had a weak character. On the other hand, every time she joined them, some Madams always asked about Madam Di intentionally or unintentionally. They were polite to Shui Ruolan on the surface, but they sneered at her behind her back when talking about her.
People in the capital thought that Madam Di was Qin Huaiyong’s legal wife. Shui Ruolan was a divorced woman. How could she compare with a decent Madam from an aristocratic family? Her status was much lower than Madam Di’s. Of course, there were some people who flattered her. They were two-bit nobodies who wanted to curry favor with Qin Huaiyong.
This was the first time Shui Ruolan had entered the Palace since she came to the capital.
“Madam Shui, how about you take the palace sedan chair?” Noticing that Shui Ruolan walked slowly, the Nanny in the Palace suggested again.
When Shui Ruolan entered the Palace just now, the Nanny had proposed it, but Shui Ruolan rejected it.
“I am good. Thank you, Nanny,” Shui Ruolan replied politely. Although she had not entered the Palace before, she knew that only high-ranking Madams were entitled to take the palace sedan chair. She had the title conferred by imperial mandate now. However, previously, Madam Di was still there, so Shui Ruolan thought it inappropriate to request for conferring the high-ranking ladyship. Afterward, Madam Di’s affairs cause an uproar, and Shui Ruolan didn’t want to be in the limelight even more.
Shui Ruolan had always kept a low profile and just wanted to live a peaceful life. She didn’t take those worldly things seriously.
She didn’t want to make things difficult for Shao Wanru because of her high profile either. Before she entered the Palace, Old Madam Qin repeatedly told her to know her place well, observe more and talk less, and deal with things carefully, so as not to disgrace the Empress.
Everyone knew that the Empress originally came from Qin’s Mansion.
“Madam Shui, please take the palace sedan chair if you are tired. Otherwise, Her Majesty will blame me,” the Nanny said with a smile, very politely.
“I’m really good. Thank you, Nanny,” Shui Ruolan said softly.
The Nanny in the Palace repeatedly cared for her, so Shui Ruolan was not as nervous as in the beginning. She thought, “Her Majesty has been close to me since we were young, and she knows my character very well. She should have given instruction to the Nanny in particular.”
“How is Her Majesty doing in the Palace?” Seeing the Nanny look kind, Shui Ruolan could not help asking an extra question, not looking panicky as in the beginning.
Only then did Shui Ruolan really feel that the child raised by her family had become the Empress.
“Her Majesty lives very well in the Palace. Apart from chatting with the Grand Empress Dowager, She has little to do. Rui’an Great Elder Princess will also come to visit her. Madam Shui, you’re welcome to come to the Palace and keep Her Majesty company when you are free,” the Nanny smiled when she saw Shui Ruolan was very kind. As she heard, Shui Ruolan and the Empress had a very good relationship, and even after the Empress found her origin, she still kept a close relationship with Shui Ruolan. Therefore, the Nanny naturally did not dare to offend Shui Ruolan.
The nanny sighed in her mind, “Madam Shui looks extremely delicate, but Her Majesty treats her so well!”
There was only one Empress in the imperial harem. As for the last generation of imperial concubines, those who had children moved out of the imperial harem and lived in their children’s mansions, and only Noble Consort Dowager Lan was left. As for the older generation, only the Grand Empress Dowager was left. So only one from each of the three generations was left in the imperial harem. An ordinary family usually had three or four concubines, but the Emperor only had one wife. How blessed the Empress was in all respects!
“The reason Her Majesty asked you to come is just to enable you to get familiar with the route. Later, you can often come to the Palace to keep Her Majesty company,” the Nanny said again.
The Nanny thought to herself, “This Madam is really blessed. As a remarried woman, she can have such good fortune. She not only married the general as a secondary legal wife, but she has also become the Madam of the General’s Mansion. In addition, Her Majesty has been close to her since childhood. With these factors, she can enjoy at least a few decades of stability and wealth in the future.”
“It’s all thanks to Her Majesty,” Shui Ruolan smiled. She remembered the well-behaved and lively Shao Wanru in her childhood. Now she had become the Empress, the uniquely favored one by the Emperor. Everything in the past was as if in a dream, which made Shui Ruolan feel unreal sometimes.
Who would have thought that an orphan back then would become the current Empress?
Shao Wanru didn’t live in the Phoenix Palace. Chu Liuchen disliked the Phoenix Palace, so he deliberately asked Shao Wanru to move into his Chenhua Palace. Since Shao Wanru moved in, he hadn’t given her a chance to move out.
The layout of the Chenhua Palace was different from that of the Phoenix Palace where the Empress lived. It looked more magnificent, dignified, and majestic.
When Shui Ruolan entered the main hall, she saw Shao Wanru sitting in the hostess’ seat. Shui Ruolan hurriedly stepped forward to salute Shao Wanru, and the latter smiled, indicating Yujie to help Shui Ruolan up. Compared with the other servant girls, Yujie was the most familiar one to Shui Ruolan.
Seeing Yujie, Shui Ruolan, who had been a little uneasy, relaxed a lot.
When Shui Ruolan took her seat, Shao Wanru asked with a smile, “How is Madam Dowager?”
Shui Ruolan looked at Shao Wanru worriedly and said, “Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Madam Dowager is very well. She often misses you, nagging that you should pay more attention to your health right now.”
Up to now, Shao Wanru’s pregnant appearance had been distinctly visible, but she was in good spirits, which made Shui Ruolan at ease.
“I’m fine. I am worried about Madam Dowager, instead. I still remember since I was young that Madam Dowager was not in good health. I wanted to invite her to come to the Palace this time, but she said that it was inconvenient for her to walk now,” Shao Wanru said softly.
In Shao Wanru’s mind, the Old Madam of the Marquis Xing’s Mansion would never be her grandmother, but only Old Madam Qin was. Whether in her last life or this one, Old Madam Qin gave Shao Wanru love and care as her own granddaughter.
Old Madam Qin was in good health now, but it was inconvenient for her to walk due to her old age. Shao Wanru often went to visit Old Madam Qin before, but now it was inconvenient to see her because of her pregnancy.
“Your Majesty, knowing you are very concerned about her, Madam Dowager is very touched.” Shui Ruolan stood up and knelt down again. “On behalf of Madam Dowager and myself, I’d like to express our gratitude, Your Majesty.”
As Shui Ruolan said, her eyes turned red.
Shao Wanru took a glance at Yujie, who was standing aside. Yujie hurried forward to help Shui Ruolan up and said, “Madam Shui, please take your seat first. What can’t you say while sitting in your seat?”
“Without Her Majesty this time… My whole family would have…” Shui Ruolan nibbled her lip and lowered her head again. She kowtowed three times respectfully to Shao Wanru before standing up with the help of Yujie. She continued, “Your Majesty, I have been entrusted by my whole family to come to thank you … including the general.”
“Madam, please have a seat.” Shao Wanru knew what Shui Ruolan meant, and she indicated Yujie to help Shui Ruolan sit down again.
“I grew up in the Qin’s Mansion since young. Although General Qin had some resentment toward me, Madam Dowager and you had always been very kind to me and never treated me badly. Even though Qin Yuru was the ‘biological daughter’ of General Qin back then, Madam Dowager had always treated me as her own granddaughter.”
Shao Wanru sighed.
This was her two lifetimes of gratitude. In fact, Shao Wanru was grateful to them more than she could say. However, she was afraid that Shui Ruolan would panic if she said too much, so Shao Wanru just simply mentioned it.
“Your Majesty, I’m afraid I don’t deserve it.” Shui Ruolan wiped her tears and said, “We are lucky to have you this time. Without your advice, I’m afraid that the whole General’s Mansion would have been…”
Speaking of this, Shui Lanruo was indeed scared. If Qin Huaiyong had entered the Palace and participated in the rebellion, her whole family would not have had a peaceful life right now. It was said that many people rushed into the Palace back then, causing chaos. They were led by Commandery Prince Cheng, Prince Yue, and Commandery Prince Qing. Everyone wanted to get a share of the benefits.
Many of them had the same rank as Qin Huaiyong or higher rank than him. They all ended up with destroyed families. And, Qin Huaiyong almost entered the Palace with them. That was why Shui Ruolan remained shaken when mentioning this point.
Fortunately, Shao Wanru sent Yujie to Qin’s Mansion and passed a message to Madam Dowager. Then Madam Dowager and Shui Ruolan persuaded Qin Huaiyong together, so Qin Huaiyong didn’t go to the Palace. Instead, he took advantage that the Palace was in chaos and that most people were not in mansions, Qin Huaiyong went to each mansion and took some people away. After the incident, he handed them over to the Emperor.
Those people were arranged in each mansion by Chu Qing. They would take action in each mansion once Chu Qing succeeded in rebellion in the Palace.
The leftover evils of the previous dynasty had pretended to be gardeners and worked in the gardens of various mansions or got a connection with the servants in the gardens by all means.
Some were arranged in Qin’s Mansion. That was why Qin Huaiyong could find out those people from other mansions. The new gardener working at Qin’s Mansion got caught. It was Shao Wanru who provided the clue.
Based on this clue, Qin Huaiyong easily caught the leftover evils of the previous dynasty lurking in various mansions, so as to cut off Chu Qing’s escape route. In the end, Chu Qing tried to take advantage of those people to flee, but he also got caught easily.
Qin Huaiyong made a great contribution because of this.
On this point, Shui Ruolan was very grateful to Shao Wanru, and she was still in fear afterward. If Shao Wanru had not sent someone to explain to them, Madam Dowager and Shui Ruolan would not have persuaded Qin Huaiyong together, and with his radical character, Qin Huaiyong would have been used by others in case of carelessness.
Then Shui Ruolan took out a memorial and handed it to Shao Wanru. “Your Majesty, this is what the general asked me to present.”
“Is it a letter from Qin Huaiyong to me?” Shao Wanru blinked her eyes and nodded. Qiu’er stepped forward to take the letter and handed it to Shao Wanru. Shao Wanru took it, opened the envelope, and started to read it.
The so-called letter, exactly speaking, was a memorial because Shao Wanru was the Empress now.
This was a letter from Qin Huaiyong. At the beginning of the letter, Qin Huaiyong expressed his gratitude to Shao Wanru. Following that, he explained some past events.
Shao Wanru pursed her lips while reading the letter. As expected, Qin Huaiyong thought that when he was in danger, Shao Wanru’s father didn’t save him, and he was implicated by her father to get into danger instead. That was why he was indifferent to Shao Wanru when she was a child. Shao Jing’s intervention caused Qin Huaiyong to have such suspicion. Hence, he didn’t care about Shao Wanru.
Compared with Shao Wanru, his biological daughter was more important to him. Even though Qin Huaiyong found out that Qin Yuru had plotted against Shao Wanru, he didn’t take it seriously.
After Qin Huaiyong came to the capital, he got a connection with Commandery Prince Cheng by chance and heard about the paintings. Qin Huaiyong remembered that there seemed to be a few pieces of paintings among the relics left to Shao Wanru by the former heir of Duke Xing, so he specially checked Shao Wanru’s room but found nothing.