She had not taken what Honored Princess Jing said about this seriously before, but hearing what Honored Princess Jing recounted today, the Empress Dowager suddenly noticed that the whole thing wasn't right.
At first, she thought that the King spent more than two decades with the Queen and must have gotten used to having her around, despite his hatred towards her. She had believed that he would not be able to drop Jiang Shuang directly and needed time to make the whole Jiang Shuang thing fade away gradually. Men were like this, the previous King was like this too. That was why she did not think that it would be a bad thing and what the King needed was just some more time.
However, when the King said that only Jiang Shuang was qualified enough to be dressed in red… that basically meant that Jiang Shuang had always taken the most important position in his heart, even now.
The King had already fallen in love with Jiang Shuang! As a King, he had no right to love somebody, but when the King really fell for someone, her following plan would be affected. Lord Ling had to be the heir, because Lord Ling had her own bloodline.
The family with hundreds of years in the capital, was passed down like this.
The previous Empress Dowager used to be her aunt and she was Honored Princess Jing's aunt. The reason why the Yao Family of hers were able to have a firm standing position in the capital was because of this. So when Lord Ling got the throne, he was going to marry someone from the Yao Family so as to pass on the bloodline.
So… if the King was truly in love with the Queen, then he would probably prefer Lord Huai instead. If Lord Huai took the throne, then the Yao Family would no longer be this flourishing.
The Empress Dowager looked increasingly annoyed. She looked at Honored Princess Jing. "Stay low-profile these next few days. I will deal with the rest. The King is a very understanding person. You should not just go about holding the authority token, and remember to stick to the rules. Remove your red dresses, and wait until you are the real Queen."
The Empress Dowager was aware that it was all the King's fault, but in front of Honored Princess Jing, she had to make Honored Princess Jing take the blame, in case she would assume that the King should take all the blame when she had someone backing her up.
The King was her son after all. She could come up with some methods to deal with him, but Honored Princess Jing should not do anything like that.
Honored Princess Jing nodded seeing how the Empress Dowager reacted. She was aware of what her aunt was like - as long as she agreed to help her, she would. So she could feel assured.
As long as Jiang Shuang was gone, she had all the energy and time to become the most powerful woman in the court.
"Got it." Honored Princess Jing nodded obediently.
The Empress Dowager nodded too. She was quite satisfied with Honored Princess Jing.
Honored Princess Jing was not a smart person, but at least she had a clear understanding of herself and could behave obediently. That was why she decided to help her right from the beginning.
The Empress Dowager massaged her temples and felt tired. She waved at her and said, "You can leave now."
Honored Princess Jing smiled timidly then she left. She had thought that the Empress Dowager would tell her that she would visit the Weiyang Palace soon, but that did not seem to be her plan.
After the Honored Princess left, the Empress Dowager whispered something to the maid next to her. Then she went on to sleep again.
***
At Gu Chaoyan's mansion.
Zhou Huaijin came to her the moment he drove Xuan Lin away.. The moment he walked in, he asked curiously, "Where is Xiu Jie? He is nowhere to be seen."