The matter begins on that morning.
Since the time when she bribed a Palace Attendant in the Imperial Garden to stuff catnip powder into Yun Jiao’s dance costume’s bell, Consort Jiang had been blacklisted from Changle Palace for a while. The Empress Dowager intended to keep her at a distance, to make her understand that even with their familial ties, she couldn’t act arrogantly and commit misdeeds in the palace.
Indeed, after being turned away by the Empress Dowager, Consort Jiang had quieted down for a few days.
At first, she was resentful, then she became fearful.
Consort Jiang knew that the Emperor was indifferent to her, and if the Empress Dowager also disliked her, she would have no support in the palace. Thus, when she heard that the Empress Dowager was ill, Consort Jiang felt that heaven had not completely abandoned her; it was the perfect opportunity to mend her relationship with the Empress Dowager!
She acted on these thoughts, yet her intentions weren’t entirely pure.
Consort Jiang still harbored resentment.
The Empress Dowager was her relative, sharing the same bloodline; where did Concubine Xi, that vixen, come from? She felt that the Empress Dowager was turning her back on her, so she adopted a particularly humble demeanor when visiting Changle Palace, even volunteering to wash the Empress Dowager’s feet.
The Empress Dowager was curious about her intentions and wanted to see if she had truly understood her mistakes.
As it turned out, a person’s nature is hard to change in a short period.
After washing the Empress Dowager’s feet, Consort Jiang hurriedly asked: "Lady, did I wash well for you?"
Her long fingernails made the Empress Dowager uncomfortable, but considering the junior’s good intentions, she did not find fault, only nodded slightly: "Consort Jiang, you have shown thoughtfulness."
Receiving a single compliment, Consort Jiang immediately asked with joy: "So, Lady, have you forgiven me?"
The Empress Dowager raised her eyes and looked at her: "I was not the one nearly scratched by the cat you let loose, so what use is it to ask me?"
The attending matron sighed in her heart.
Miss Jiang was too impatient.
Consort Jiang didn’t understand what the Empress Dowager’s glance meant, and she said coyly: "In my heart, there is only the Empress Dowager; I don’t care about anyone else. These days, every time I thought of the Empress Dowager blaming me, I couldn’t eat or sleep well, so I earnestly came to beg for your forgiveness."
...
The Empress Dowager took a sip of warm water.
The Jiang Family had done their utmost to send their most beautiful daughter into the palace, full of sincerity. Consort Jiang’s accomplishments in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting were first-rate among the noblewomen of the capital, but her deficiencies in character were not something that could be taught. In her eyes, there was no one else; she exaggerated her own joys and sorrows, weighing her own efforts and suffering as heavily as Taishan, while the hardships of others were as light as a feather.
Just like today, in her eyes, there was neither Yun Jiao nor the Empress Dowager.
What she saw was only her grievances and the self that had already "repented." Skipping a meal was a big deal, even though she was the one who had harmed others, now she wanted the Empress Dowager to let it go lightly because she had admitted her mistake and apologized, thinking that others should forgive her and treat her well just like before.
"When Consort Jiang came to Changle Palace to attend to illness, did you ever think about whether I, the Empress Dowager, could eat and sleep well?"
The Empress Dowager asked.
Consort Jiang froze: "Lady, I have thought about it..."
The Empress Dowager directly summoned the Imperial Physician on duty in Changle Palace and asked him if Consort Jiang had ever shown concern for his health.
Consort Jiang stared at him so intently that her eyeballs seemed about to pop out.
The Imperial Physician, not daring to falsify in front of the Empress Dowager, kept his head down: "In response to the Empress Dowager, I have never seen Miss Jiang."
To block Consort Jiang’s excuses, the Empress Dowager called in the palace maids, eunuchs, and the head of the small kitchen and asked them one by one, receiving roughly the same answer.
Consort Jiang then sent someone to fetch a bucket of hot water and sprinkled it with petals she brought herself.
"I was thinking of massaging the Empress Dowager’s meridians..."
"Even when you care for someone, it’s all about what you want, what you feel comfortable with,"
The Empress Dowager sighed, feeling empty in her stomach and her body discomforted, then seeing Consort Jiang’s wounded expression, she suddenly became angry: "You have no concern for me; what you fear is being without me, life in the harem would be difficult. Look at yourself, truly an unfilial person, an ingrate!"
Seeing the Empress Dowager enraged, Consort Jiang fearfully knelt down.
"Aunt, you’ve got me wrong, Wan’er truly didn’t mean it, it’s just that Wan’er has never taken care of a sick person..."
Clang!
Upon hearing this intimate form of address, the Empress Dowager threw the cup to the ground, shattering it.
"Get out, I don’t want to see you."
As Consort Jiang was being sent out, she was still trying to get the matron to intercede for her.
The matron, in a predicament, was relieved by the early arrival of Concubine Xi, who resolved the situation. Seeing her, Consort Jiang nearly burst into tears; she had suffered enough grievances these days, all because of that Yun Family! She had been extremely unlucky, trying so hard to care for the Empress Dowager, only to encounter the Empress Dowager in a bad mood; if it had been any other day, how could the Empress Dowager have misunderstood her and become so angry with her!