Chapter 389: Meeting Empress Jia
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Last night, I was too desirous of the cool breeze and stayed in the Imperial garden for too long. 1 caught a cold when I came back.”
“Cough, cough…”
“Has Your Royal Highness summoned the Imperial Physician to take a look?” Mrs. Shen asked worriedly.
She was a little angry at the Empress for not standing up for her and Rong’er.
However, the Empress was still her younger sister after all and had treated her well all these years.
In addition, the Jia family could not do without the Empress’s care, so not surprisingly, she did not want anything to happen to her younger sister.
Empress Jia raised her eyes and looked at Mrs. Shen with a smile.
“1 have. He gave me a prescription to treat a cold.
“But I didn’t drink it because the medicine was too bitter.”
“How can Your Royal Highness do that?” Mrs. Shen quickly said.
She went forward to support Empress Jia personally.
“Good medicine may be bitter but it’s good for the disease. Your Royal Highness’s body isn’t very strong, to begin with. If you don’t take medicine, how can Your Royal Highness recover quickly?”
“Haha…” When she saw her elder sister’s concerned look, Empress Jia’s mood improved a little.
After seeing Mrs. Shen’s reproachful gaze, Empress Jia smiled and patted the former’s hand.
“I can drink the medicine if you want me to, but you have to feed me personally,” she said.
When she was young, she also found medicine bitter.
Every time she fell sick and her family brewed medicine for her, she would secretly pour away the medicine.
This went on until she was discovered by her elder sister and was coaxed by her elder sister to drink the medicine.
Time really flew by. In the blink of an eye, decades had passed.
She and her elder sister had both married and had children.
As their identities and statuses changed, the relationship between them also changed.
It was no longer as pure as before but was mixed with many things.
Mrs. Shen glanced at Empress Jia, her eyes filled with myriad emotions.
“Alright,” she immediately replied.
Then, she asked the palace maid to bring the medicine and she personally fed it to Empress Jia.
Empress Jia drank the medicine obligingly. Although she frowned from time to time and complained that the medicine was bitter, she took one mouthful after another and did not stop.
When the palace servants saw this, they were all delighted.
They sighed in their hearts. The Empress’s elder sister was still the best. Only she could make the Empress drink the medicine obediently.
Mrs. Shen saw the reaction of the palace servants and looked at Empress Jia.
“You’re already so old, but you’re still so willful,” she said.
Empress Jia turned to look at Mrs. Shen. Not only was she not angry at her lack of respect, but her smile became even warmer.
“No matter what age 1 am, I am still the younger sister that Elder Sister dotes on the most,” Empress Jia said with a laugh.
As if recalling the past, Mrs. Shen’s eyes also showed some tenderness.
“Rather than saying that 1 dote on you, it’s more like you’re taking care of me.
“You’ve been smart since you were young. You can talk about all things big and small in the family.
“Father and Brothers all listened to you.
“If it weren’t for you, my life wouldn’t have been so easy.”
When she took care of the Empress, it was mostly reflected in her daily life.
Whereas when the Empress took care of her, the former’s actions changed her life.
Their Jia family was not powerful from the start.
Before the Empress entered the palace or rather, before she was conferred the title of Imperial Concubine, their Jia family was actually just an ordinary family of an official.
Her father was a seventh-grade county magistrate, and his family had no powerful relatives.
It was the Empress who brought the Jia family into the capital and made the Jia family a powerful and influential force in the capital.
With the support of the Empress, Mrs. Shen avoided the fate of being forced into a marriage alliance by her father and brothers and eventually married Shen Hongyu.
In hindsight, it seemed that marrying Shen Hongyu was not a good choice. However, at that time, the Empress had indeed helped her a lot.
The Empress said that she, the elder sister, was the one who took care of her.
However, she knew very well that her younger sister was the one who took care of her more.
Since that was the case, why didn’t her good younger sister take care of her a bit more?
To help seek justice for her Rong’er and help her keep what belonged to Rong’er.
Empress Jia smiled and patted the back of Mrs. Shen’s hand again.
She then asked Mrs. Shen to help her up.
Mrs. Shen did as she was told.
She helped Empress Jia to the soft couch to sit down.
After Empress Jia sat down, she patted the seat beside her and bade Mrs. Shen sit next to her.
Mrs. Shen glanced at Empress Jia and did as she was told.
After Mrs. Shen sat down, Empress Jia continued to chat with her.
“My health hasn’t been good recently, so 1 didn’t summon you into the palace, Elder Sister.
“Elder Sister, you’re really heartless. You didn’t even bother to come and visit me.” At this point, a hint of reproach flashed across Empress Jia’s eyes.
Mrs. Shen was stunned momentarily. When she looked at Empress Jia, a hint of emotion flashed across her eyes.
Did she not want to enter the palace? It was clearly Empress Jia who did not want to see her…
On the day of Rong’er’s funeral, she wanted to look for Empress Jia, but she was stopped by the lady-in-waiting by Empress Jia’s side.
She really knew how to shift the blame, turning around to say that Mrs. Shen did not want to enter the palace to visit her…
Empress Jia saw through Mrs. Shen’s emotions, but she was not angry. She reached out and grabbed Mrs. Shen’s hand.
“We sisters have been close since we were young. In my heart, Elder Sister is a very important person,” she said earnestly.
Mrs. Shen’s heart skipped a beat.
When she looked at Empress Jia’s eyes which were filled with sincere emotions, the little anger in her heart finally disappeared.
“If Your Royal Highness really thinks this way, then help this humble official’s wife again!” Then, she suddenly got up and knelt down in front of Empress Jia.
“Elder Sister, what are you doing?” Empress Jia quickly stopped her. “Let’s sit down and talk.”
Mrs. Shen glanced at Empress Jia before obediently returning to her seat.
Then, she wiped her tears.
“Your Royal Highness, I thought… thought that Your Royal Highness really didn’t care about me anymore. Sob, sob…”
“Why do you say that? Regardless of whom I don’t care about, 1 can’t possibly not care about my Elder Sister.” Empress Jia quickly comforted her.
She even allowed Mrs. Shen to cry on her shoulder.
“Elder Sister, if you have any grievances, feel free to tell me. 1’11 seek redress for you, Elder Sister,” Empress Jia said.
Mrs. Shen suddenly felt a lot more at ease.
She even suspected that it might have been the lady-in-waiting’s idea to block her back then and that it had nothing to do with the Empress.
“Sob, sob… Your Royal Highness…” A well of sorrow suddenly gushed up from Mrs. Shen’s heart and she threw herself into the Empress’s arms.
The Empress quickly patted Mrs. Shen’s back to comfort her.
At the same time, she ordered the palace servants to leave.
After all the palace maids and eunuchs had left, the Empress continued, “Alright, Elder Sister. Don’t cry.
“Tell me. What exactly happened to you?”
Only then did Mrs. Shen choke back her tears as she got up from the Empress’s arms.
Then, she began talking about Shen Rong.
“Your Royal Highness, I only have one daughter, Rong’er… but Shen Hongyu… Shen Hongyu caused her death.
“Sob, sob… Not only did he kill my daughter… Now, he wants to bring his illegitimate daughter into the Prime Minister’s residence and occupy everything that belongs to Rong’er.
“Sob, sob… He’s almost bullying me to death…”
When the Empress heard this, her face darkened instantly.
“Rong’er was really forced to her death by Minister Shen?” she asked in a low voice.
She knew that Shen Rong’s death was not as simple as it appeared, but she did not expect it to be due to this reason.
Shen Hongyu had indeed gone overboard this time.
However, Shen Rong was also too much. She abandoned Song Rui, who was such a good man, and actually got entangled with another man, even secretly getting pregnant.
“Yes! Shen Hongyu just couldn’t bear to see anyone disobey him! That’s why he forced my Rong’er to her death!” Mrs. Shen said angrily.
Empress Jia glanced at Mrs. Shen and nodded.
Then, she said, “This time, Rong’er has indeed gone a little overboard in her actions.”
Mrs. Shen’s expression turned anxious. She wanted to say something but was stopped by Empress Jia.
“But even if that child was in the wrong, Minister Shen should not be so
heartless..”