Daohua trailed behind Old Madam Yan and Madam Li, following the noble ladies towards Cining Palace.
Soon, they arrived at Cining Palace.
Gazing upon the splendid Cining Palace, Daohua’s eyes flickered and memories involuntarily surfaced of her first encounter with Grandmother Gu and Gu Jian.
Back then, Grandmother and her master lived in a dilapidated side yard of a temple where, apart from shelter from the wind and rain, there was scarcely proper furniture, and the most common sight was pots of medicine.
Even the later Taohua Temple was no match for the magnificence of Cining Palace before her eyes.
Stepping into Cining Palace and witnessing the continuous stream of noble ladies, as well as the bustling palace attendants, Daohua came to understand the glory and pomp the Empress Dowager, the emperor’s mother in name, enjoyed.
Thinking of her grandmother lying alone in Taohua Village filled her heart with an indescribable sense of suffocation.
Thereafter, Daohua along with Old Madam Yan and Madam Li followed the other noble ladies into the hall to pay respects to the Empress Dowager and Empress, before politely taking seats aside.
The Empress Dowager sat on the throne with a clear view of everyone below. Her gaze paused on the Yan Family womenfolk and lingered on Daohua briefly before indifferently moving away.
Afterward, the Empress Dowager individually spoke with the noble ladies from each family, intentionally excluding the Yan Family.
Seeing the Empress Dowager’s behavior, everyone present had their own thoughts, and naturally distanced themselves from Old Madam Yan and the others.
Amidst the cheerful banter in the main hall, the Yan Family was excluded from the warmth.
In response, Old Madam Yan, Madam Li, and Daohua remained calm, having prepared themselves for various outcomes before arriving.
Daohua secretly observed the Empress Dowager a few times.
Compared to the graceful and leisurely Empress Dowager Jiang, Grandmother Gu, with her ruined visage, looked significantly older, especially after years of suffering from illness and being forced to part from her children, her eyes always held a distressing hint of sorrow.
Seeing all that the Empress Dowager enjoyed, and reflecting on everything Grandmother had silently endured over the years, Daohua felt a surge of resentment, filling her with an uncomfortable sense of injustice.
"A report for the Empress Dowager, the Crown Prince has arrived with the princes, princesses, and their consorts to pay their respects," a palace attendant announced.
Upon hearing this, the Empress Dowager immediately beamed with joy, "Let them in quickly!"
Swiftly, led by the Crown Prince and Crown Princess, the princes, their consorts, and princesses entered the main hall.
"Greetings to Great Ancestral Grandmother from your grandchildren!"
Watching the respectful and adoring princes and princesses kneel before the Empress Dowager’s feet, Daohua felt her breath tighten. She took a deep breath to calm the turbulent emotions within her.
"May Great Ancestral Grandmother enjoy health this Dragon Boat Festival, this is a gift from your grandson."
The princes and princesses began to earnestly demonstrate their filial piety.
The noble ladies in attendance also adeptly flattered the filial piety of the princes and princesses, praising the Empress Dowager’s good fortune.
"Great Ancestral Grandmother, has the Countess of Shengping arrived? Call her out for us to see if she truly matches up with Yeyang, my cousin," the Grand Princess suddenly spoke with evident scorn in her tone.
The Empress Dowager smiled silently, her gaze settling on Daohua.
Daohua thought to herself, what was bound to come had come; this Grand Princess must be the person the Empress Dowager put forward to embarrass her.
According to the information Xiao Yeyang had given her, this Grand Princess was born to a mother of low status, who died soon after her birth, and ever since then, the Grand Princess had been clinging to the Empress Dowager, frequently speaking for the Jiang Family at various events.
Under everyone’s watchful eyes, Daohua calmly stepped forward: "Shengping greets everyone."
The Grand Princess glanced at Daohua and commented to the Empress Dowager with a smile, "She indeed has a pretty face."
The Empress Dowager simply smiled and said, "Chosen by Yeyang himself, naturally she’s good."
Chosen by oneself, not by family elders, implied a secret pledge of mutual commitment between the two.
Daohua pretended not to understand the hidden meaning in the Empress Dowager’s words, ignoring the various gazes directed at her.
The Grand Princess went on, "I heard that the Yan Family comes from peasant origins. We know so little about peasant matters, why don’t you, Countess of Shengping, tell us about the life of a farming family? After all, everyone’s just idling away bored at the moment."
At these words, everyone looked toward Daohua.
The Grand Princess’s request, akin to what Madam Jiang the Second had previously done at Princess Huijia’s residence, demanding Countess of Shengping perform in public, was simply for their own amusement.
Previously, Countess of Shengping directly confronted the two Madams of the Jiang Family. Now, in front of the Empress Dowager and Empress, would she dare do the