The couple put in a great deal of effort to persuade Lu Yanqing to finally get out of bed and, escorted by the household guards, head to the Imperial College.
Princess Changping stood at the main gate, watching the distant silhouette of the carriage, her expression somewhat dazed.
"Are you going to the palace?" came Lu Xingzhou’s voice from behind.
The Eldest Princess nodded, "Actually, I was hoping the Old Marquis could go with me."
"Back then, no matter how much we pleaded with him, even Ah Yin knelt before him as a princess, yet he remained indifferent. How could he possibly be willing to see the Empress Dowager now?"
The Eldest Princess lowered her eyes, saying nothing.
The Empress Dowager had strongly opposed her union with Lu Xingzhou, and the root cause lay with the Old Marquis.
This was discovered by Lu Xingzhou.
Before the Empress Dowager was sent to the palace through the selection process, she had a childhood sweetheart, who is now the Old Marquis. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on novel✶fire.net
In order to avoid entering the palace as a concubine, they had agreed that the Old Marquis would propose marriage before the imperial decree of selection reached the Mei Family.
However, in the eyes of the Old Marquis, antiques and paintings evidently outweighed women, so upon hearing news of a certain Jin Dynasty artifact appearing in the south, he rode off into the night, leaving the Capital.
Upon this departure, there was neither a proposal nor any news.
When he returned with the item, the young lady of the Mei Family had already entered the palace and become a woman of the late Emperor.
"The Old Marquis is hopeless; let me accompany you instead!"
The voice of the Prince Consort sounded in her ear.
The Eldest Princess snapped out of her thoughts, did not refuse, and the two quickly prepared a carriage to enter the palace.
Not seeing Lu Yanqing, the Empress Dowager placed her teacup on the table with a bit of force, "What, does the mourning family now not even have the right to see her grandson?"
The Eldest Princess spoke, "Yanqing is busy with his studies, unable to come to the palace. I thought, Mother, as his grandmother, you could understand his situation."
The words were laced with irony.
The Empress Dowager’s eyes darkened, "So Fanghua came to the palace today to challenge the mourning family?"
"In this world, there are probably few things you, Princess Changping, wouldn’t dare to do!"
"If you’re going to be unreasonable like that, then I have plenty to say."
"Speak! The mourning family would like to hear if you can disrupt the heavens today!"
The Eldest Princess sat to the side, "I came to the palace today to ask if the grievances of your generation can avoid involving me and the Prince Consort, and if they can spare my child from any reprisal?"
The Empress Dowager’s somber gaze swept over the Eldest Princess, without a word.
"Perhaps in your own mind, you are a good elder, doting on your grandchild, allowing and pampering him in every way.
Yet, in the eyes of outsiders, it becomes the fault of us as parents.
Regarding the recent incident with the Imperial College scholar Huo Yuan, I believe you’ve heard about it. That saying, ’Raising a child without education is like raising a mule’ still pierces my heart like a thorn.
Is it that I haven’t taught him? Or that I haven’t disciplined him? Neither. It’s that someone else teaches and disciplines better than me, no matter how grave my son’s mistakes, she could always smooth it over, even keep it a secret, so tightly under wraps that even the Prince Consort and I were not aware, resulting in him growing increasingly wayward, and now, no matter what I say, he won’t listen.
Spoiling a child is like killing a child. This is a principle that a mother who successfully educates her child would understand. Yet you employ this tactic on my son, such deliberate effort, how malicious!"
The Empress Dowager looked at the Eldest Princess for some time and suddenly laughed, "The mourning family, malicious? If the mourning family hadn’t kept it hidden for him, once what he’s done is exposed, not even exiling your entire family would be enough!"
"At this point, are you still trying to spread fear?"
The Eldest Princess truly did not wish to argue, but the Empress Dowager’s attitude left her with no choice but to be angry.
"Whether it’s spreading fear, we shall see."
The Eldest Princess clenched her fingers.
Lu Xingzhou glanced at his wife, whose face was livid, and then addressed the Empress Dowager, "Ah Yin intended to mend relations with you today, but given how things have turned out, it seems unnecessary."
"Prince Consort, no need to cover up for her. Zhao Xunyin has grown wings and long ceased to regard the mourning family as a mother. Which time did she come to the palace that was not to quarrel with the mourning family? As you saw before, was it not the mourning family that gave her no chance to reconcile? She immediately nags incessantly, holding onto the mourning family, no wonder the mourning family is unsympathetic."
The Eldest Princess looked at Lu Xingzhou, "Prince Consort, let’s go."
Lu Xingzhou wanted to say something more but was pulled out of Shou’an Palace by the Eldest Princess.
Once outside the Imperial City, seated in the carriage, the Eldest Princess brought up the issue of recruiting scholars, "It’s been so long, and there’s still no sign. Are there fewer scholars this year, or does the Prince Consort not favor any of them?"