134 Let Her Wait
“Your Majesty, Miss Jiang Xi is here. She’s waiting outside the imperial garden,” a palace maid came forward to report.
The smile on the empress’ face faded, and she said with a sense of alienation and majesty, “Let her wait outside, I still have things to discuss with Panpan.” The empress pulled Zhao Panpan to the pavilion and sipped some hot tea. The weather was dark and gloomy, and it seemed like it was going to rain soon.
“Your Majesty, if big brother knows what you are doing, he will blame Panpan for not being sensible. In the future, the Zhao family will be handed over to my sister-in-law sooner or later. I’m just a girl who’s about to get married. In the future, I’ll still need the Zhao family to support me… Moreover, Jiang Xi has a bad temper…” Zhao Panpan said with a look of fear and trepidation.
“Support? Do you really need Jiang Xi, a country bumpkin, to back you up? You have me to back you up! Even the crown prince can’t casually bully you!” The empress was furious. “I heard that Jiang Xi threatened you as soon as he entered the house yesterday. Who gave her the courage?! Was she really lawless just because the emperor had bestowed her with a marriage? Panpan, you’re a soft-hearted and kind girl. How will you gain a foothold in the Eastern Palace in the future?”
The empress was very worried. Zhao Panpan’s face turned red and she looked helpless. Her aggrieved expression made the empress’ heart ache. If Zhao Panpan could not use the word ‘Xi’, then who could? Was it Jiang Xi, that wretched girl? For the first time, the empress felt that she should have gotten rid of Jiang Xi in the first place! Even if she was the little friend that the crown prince had missed when he was three years old, since Zhao Panpan had taken over that position, that position was now Zhao Panpan’s. She could only blame herself for being soft-hearted and afraid that the crown prince would be estranged from her when he found out the truth. If she had known that it would cause Zhao Panpan to be wronged, she would not have kept Jiang Xi!
The empress was having a heart-to-heart chat with Zhao Panpan over tea, not paying any attention to Jiang Xi who was outside.
About half an hour later, a palace maid came over to massage the empress’ shoulders and said softly, “Your Majesty, it’s raining outside.” She knew that the empress felt sorry for Miss Zhao Panpan, but General Zhao Ruifeng had also told them in advance to take care of Jiang Xi, so she had to bite the bullet and remind the empress.
When the empress heard this, it was as if she suddenly remembered something. She patted her head in annoyance and said, “Look at my memory. Every time I hear Panpan talk about her childhood, I forget about the important things. Quick, let Jiang Xi in.”
It was already dark outside. No one knew how long the rain had been falling. Jiang Xi stood quietly in the rain. Her body did not even shake.
For some reason, when the palace servants saw Jiang Xi’s tightly pursed thin lips, they felt a little afraid, as if she was born with an imposing aura.
When Jiang Xi walked into the pavilion, she was still dripping wet. Her delicate makeup had been washed away by the rain, revealing her true appearance. She should have been in a sorry state, but at this time, she stood straight and calm.
Jiang Xi felt lucky that she was a mushroom today, or she would have been drenched to death by the rain! However, she seemed to be a poisonous mushroom today.
When the palace maid went to see Jiang Xi, she seemed to have heard a chuckle. The chuckle was so joyful that the palace maid thought that the rain must have been too heavy, so she was mishearing it. Otherwise, how could Jiang Xi still laugh after being in the rain for so long?
“This commoner’s daughter, Jiang Xi, pays her respects to the empress. Long live the empress.” Jiang Xi lowered her head. Her body, which was wet from the rain, looked even thinner. She muttered in her heart, ‘I’m a mushroom, a mushroom.’
Her hair was wet from the rain and stuck to her face, covering 70% of Jiang Xi’s delicate eyebrows. The empress raised her hand and gestured for Jiang Xi to get up. When Jiang Xi got up from the ground, there were two knee marks on the place where she had knelt.
“Jiang Xi, don’t blame the empress. It’s all my fault that the empress forgot the time when I was talking to her about my childhood.” Zhao Panpan quickly stood up, looking both aggrieved and afraid. However, her words confirmed Jiang Xi’s overbearing reputation and made the empress dislike Jiang Xi even more.
The empress felt uncomfortable the moment she saw Jiang Xi. When she heard Zhao Panpan’s words, she did not even raise her eyes and instructed the palace maid, “I’m old and forgetful. Someone, bring Miss Jiang Xi down to change her clothes.”
When Jiang Xi came back after changing her clothes, the empress asked someone to serve her hot tea to warm her body. She smiled and said, “I’m old and can’t remember things. Recently, my body is getting worse and worse. Miss Jiang Xi won’t blame me, right? Sigh, General Zhao Ruifeng finally found a beautiful wife, but I, this old woman, have made you suffer.”